01/07/2024 - In his second feature, Dutch helmer Peter Hoogendoorn comes up with a minimalist and bittersweet family drama, playing with the ambiguity of the mutual affection between a father and son

Having crafted his film with the Dutch expression “guests and fish only stay fresh for three days” in mind, Peter Hoogendoorn is clearly not afraid to confront challenging situations in family relationships that we might all find ourselves embroiled in at some point, but which few of us would dare to address or would be able to strike the right tone to discuss. In this regard, Three Days of Fish [+see also:
trailer
interview: Peter Hoogendoorn
film profile], currently locking horns in the Crystal Globe Competition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, hits the bull’s eye as it portrays a complex interaction between a father and son in a profound, universal manner to which everyone can relate, regardless of how much Hoogendoorn’s own particular experiences inspired the plot. In actual fact, his feature debut, Between 10 and 12 [+see also:
trailer
interview: Peter Hoogendoorn
film profile], was also based on true events from his life without being strictly autobiographical, and thus such an approach seems to be growing into an authorship style, willingly embraced and further developed by the director.

The laid-back opening scene, with positive vibe-inducing music in the background, features middle-aged Dick (Guido Pollemans) sitting at a bus stop on a discarded chair – a find he will add to his collection of salvaged seats, which he sells to pay the bills, since he doesn't have a proper job. The topic of his need to secure proper employment is almost immediately pounced upon by his sixty-something father, Gerrie (Ton Kas), as he gets off the next bus that comes along, and this slightly confrontational modus operandi will set the mood for the next three days that they will spend together. Currently residing in Portugal with his second wife, Gerrie has returned to Rotterdam for practical reasons – his annual health check-ups – and is planning to use the rest of the time in his home country equally practically by visiting relatives and Dick’s mother’s grave, which, however, now appears to be gone, as Dick failed to extend the contract for the burial plot. Meanwhile, the son seems to need more leisure time, spontaneous communication and, most of all, approval from his father, who struggles to show that he accepts Dick the way he is.

Relying much more on the fine nuances of the characters’ communication than on the actual narrative, Three Days of Fish intuitively captures the awkwardness that might occur between people who are very close to one another when they try their best to treat each other with respect but often fail to do so. This openly admitted vulnerability disarms the viewer and facilitates full identification with the characters.

Another enchanting aspect of the movie is its humane authenticity, almost on a documentary level – an effect that owes much to the actors’ natural performances, orchestrated with ease by director Hoogendoorn. The elegant black-and-white imagery by DoP Gregg Telussa, who also shot Between 10 and 12, contributes in a precise and economical way to the subtle psychological approach with which the film manages to touch on the ineffable.

Three Days of Fish was produced by Dutch outfits Circe Films and Kaap Holland Film, and was co-produced by Belgium’s A Private View and the Netherlands’ NTR.