Occupied City is a very odd documentary, comprised of very distinct images and texts.
The images are all of Amsterdam between 2020 and 2023, featuring daily life on the streets: the canals, houses, traffic, people. There are the summers with people lying in the parks and winters with ice skating on the canals. Throughout the film you can see the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, like a big demonstration against governmental measures against the spread of the virus, but also demonstrations against systemic racism, against climate change, remembrance days like May 4th and Keti Koti, the opening of the Holocaust Names Monument, the arrival of the first Ukrainian refugees and also celebrations like King's Day and the arrival of Saint Nicholas. Lastly there are images of - and sometimes inside - buildings and other places that are connected to stories of the second world war and the Nazi occupation. It's a beautifully shot "day in the life" documentary if you just watch the images.
The texts (in Dutch voiced by actrice Carice van Houten or in the English version by Melanie Hyams) is comprised of snippets from the book "Atlas of an Occupied City" written by historian Bianca Stigter, who is also McQueen's wife. Dozens, if not hundreds of little stories connected to an address. Of jews hiding from the Nazis, of resistance against occupation and collaboration with the occupiers.
Sometimes the text complements the images very well, especially when they film from inside the buildings from the stories. Watching people living their lives at places with such a rich and horrific history is sobering. Sometimes (especially after an hour or 3) you find yourself just watching the images, because it's very hard to concentrate on both the image and text at the same time. Just watching the film can be very meditative at times, until you catch another "...and then they were executed in a concentration camp in 1944...." and you realize what you are watching. There are so many stories, dates, names, deaths, that it's almost numbing.
I've lived in Amsterdam for a long time and I recognize a lot of places and all of the events in the film. I've lived in places that had connections to the war, and I've always been conscious of events that took place at places that I know. I was even watching the film in the "City" theater that is featured in the film. So for me it was almost a pleasantly recognizable (if also a very very very very long) watch. To be honest, if you already know many of the things that happened during the war, it's not even that confronting anymore; it's simply the sheer volume of the stories that is overwhelming. I think the absence of interviews and explanations of the images will be confusing to those who don't know the city and don't know what's going on on screen.
All in all, it's a monumental undertaking: years of filming, dozens of stories, 4 hour watch time, to try and connect the stories of occupied Amsterdam to those places in the present. It's a piece of art more than a documentary. I would recommend it especially for people who already have a connection with Amsterdam, who either live there or have a particular interest.
The images are all of Amsterdam between 2020 and 2023, featuring daily life on the streets: the canals, houses, traffic, people. There are the summers with people lying in the parks and winters with ice skating on the canals. Throughout the film you can see the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, like a big demonstration against governmental measures against the spread of the virus, but also demonstrations against systemic racism, against climate change, remembrance days like May 4th and Keti Koti, the opening of the Holocaust Names Monument, the arrival of the first Ukrainian refugees and also celebrations like King's Day and the arrival of Saint Nicholas. Lastly there are images of - and sometimes inside - buildings and other places that are connected to stories of the second world war and the Nazi occupation. It's a beautifully shot "day in the life" documentary if you just watch the images.
The texts (in Dutch voiced by actrice Carice van Houten or in the English version by Melanie Hyams) is comprised of snippets from the book "Atlas of an Occupied City" written by historian Bianca Stigter, who is also McQueen's wife. Dozens, if not hundreds of little stories connected to an address. Of jews hiding from the Nazis, of resistance against occupation and collaboration with the occupiers.
Sometimes the text complements the images very well, especially when they film from inside the buildings from the stories. Watching people living their lives at places with such a rich and horrific history is sobering. Sometimes (especially after an hour or 3) you find yourself just watching the images, because it's very hard to concentrate on both the image and text at the same time. Just watching the film can be very meditative at times, until you catch another "...and then they were executed in a concentration camp in 1944...." and you realize what you are watching. There are so many stories, dates, names, deaths, that it's almost numbing.
I've lived in Amsterdam for a long time and I recognize a lot of places and all of the events in the film. I've lived in places that had connections to the war, and I've always been conscious of events that took place at places that I know. I was even watching the film in the "City" theater that is featured in the film. So for me it was almost a pleasantly recognizable (if also a very very very very long) watch. To be honest, if you already know many of the things that happened during the war, it's not even that confronting anymore; it's simply the sheer volume of the stories that is overwhelming. I think the absence of interviews and explanations of the images will be confusing to those who don't know the city and don't know what's going on on screen.
All in all, it's a monumental undertaking: years of filming, dozens of stories, 4 hour watch time, to try and connect the stories of occupied Amsterdam to those places in the present. It's a piece of art more than a documentary. I would recommend it especially for people who already have a connection with Amsterdam, who either live there or have a particular interest.