This Director's Note is written by: Janwillem Liebrandt

The film, Love and Punishment can be fount at: http://www.docskool.org/film_spaces/view/17

Love and punishment is about family live, love and remaining faithful to who you are. The theme of this film is inspired by the fact that behavior, ‘free will’ and choices in live, are frequently governed by the dominant gender ideology in society, particularly in relation to family, be it as an act of conforming to gender, or as an attempt to break free from it. In an exploration for ways to question normalcy and hidden expectations in family live, and being from the Netherlands, this film seeks to question Dutch (western European) gender ideology.

Dutch culture can be characterized as a semi-Christian, semi-secular society, wherein everybody is supposedly free to do what he/she likes. In the meantime though, there are social pressures at work to act ‘normal’, prescribing specific behavior for men and women to live their life. In the nuclear family, fathers’ life is set by the capitalist market, having to provide income for the family, and is expected to act responsible. Mother’s sexual desires are regulated by (Christian) marriage, while being responsible for peace and harmony at the kitchen table. Children are the hope of the next generation, and are encouraged to make independent choices, but simultaneously are not expected to disappoint their parents.      

The film evolves around a triangular relation with a woman who has plenty of love to give, challenging ‘happy family live’ on all fronts. The conflicts arising are not the same though; father and son experience little need to disguise their troubles, but the mother is silenced and captured in a web of hidden expectations and secret desires. Her situation calls for radical action.

Writing this script was done in a 12 hour session, whereby the directors of three film teams of docskool were ‘locked up’ and asked to produce a philosophy and flowchart for a film, including pretext and a ‘rollercoaster’ (points where conflicts intensify or develop in the story). This was hard work. Digging into assumptions and hidden expectations of society (and yourself), and writing them down in a figure which makes sense is not easy. The following step was to come up with a CLOSAT (character, location, objective, situation, action and theme). Here, the characters (father, mother, son, and women with plenty of love) were carved out, and the film started to become ‘something’; an experience which makes your heart jump after 8 hours of brain cracking and soul searching. Script writing was than a matter of incorporating the philosophy, flowchart and CLOSAT in a story which makes sense and is gripping.

Finding locations, actors and shooting took place within 36 hours. All shots in the film have been taken only once. Heavy traffic in Kathmandu, power cuts, and deteriorating light conditions, due to a sunset further complicated shooting (a disaster when making a film and it is not in the script). Eventually, we managed to end up with 25 minutes of film, which was eventually cut back to 9 minutes.

Editing the film and watch your art product was a thrilling experience for the team. It is up to the viewers to decide whether the film’s philosophy is visible, but, having now an experience of film making, I am sure we will never be able to watch a film passively anymore and consume, without thinking, what is being served.
 

The film, Love and Punishment can be fount at: http://www.docskool.org/film_spaces/view/17