An experimental journey through a year in the life of the director, using his always playing playlist to cross the boundaries of fiction and documentary. Through scenes of both comedy and tragedy, realistic documentary footage and experimental sequences of the director's environment and daily life we get a sometimes estranging image of a young man and also an intriguing insight in his mindset and how this translates to the imagery on screen.
Pleh, Döner in the Afternoon
Netherlands12
Netherlands
Finally, it is here. My official first feature-length film (according to that darned Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). After more than a year of collecting footage, editing and philosophizing about what the hell this film had to tell, had to become, the only word that could accurately describe it all was just: pleh.
Pleh? you ask.
Yes.
Pleh! (pssssst, that is a semi-obvious link to the film!)
PLEH is an experimental journey through a year in the life of the film's director, using his always playing playlist to cross the boundaries of fiction and documentary. Through scenes of both comedy and tragedy, realistic documentary footage and experimental sequences of the director’s environment and daily life we get a…
That slow zoom out of the window, about thirty minutes into the film, followed by the gradual pull back and unnamed title credit (supplemented with Oneohtrix Point Never's "Zones Without People"), is one of my favorite transitory sequences in cinema this year.
After about a year of endless collecting of material, editing and even living my life a little, PLEH is finally nearing completion. As a music-driven diary, PLEH recounts my life in the past twelve months through a collection of feelings, stories and experiences that have changed me during that time. Both an experimental film, a documentary and even a fiction at times, PLEH is a film that has brought me some sort of feeling of conclusion after one of the more complex years in my life so far.
Please watch the trailer HERE.
And if you'd like to show some support add it to your watchlist! 💜
You know those films you watch by filmmakers whether they are low budget or no budget and you think, this director has got something special and could truly be big in the future.
This is one of those times.
I honestly didn't expect to be blown away by this 45minute film by willem, i always knew he was talented but this honestly in my opinion is something i could see at the cinema or at a big festival and be one of my favourites I'm truly blown away.
The capturing of life in moments so relatable and touching is always a magical thing to show, willem does this perfectly in this film, he blends the beautiful real moments with the…
THE FINAL EDIT OF THE FILM HAS FINALLY BEEN FINISHED TODAY!!
Now you only have to wait till the 22nd of October to see it.
Until then I'd like to tease everybody with a short list showcasing some of the films that inspired me during the making of PLEH!
Check it out here!!
Much love!! 💙
In a little less than a month PLEH will finally hit the internet and you can all enjoy my biggest project yet! In the meantime I'm dropping a second and final trailer which you can watch right here.
And as you can see, the poster here on Letterboxd has been updated to its final version, using a still from what is probably my personal favorite sequence from the film. I honestly can't wait till this film gets out into the world. Till the 22nd of October, peeps!
Much love!! 💙
A collection of vignettes that encompass moments in the everyday life of a man; PLEH is not only a look into the personality of an individual but a journey into his state of mind. I have mentioned before that the director has an incredible eye to capture the sheer splendour of nature, and this time he uses that to evoke an overwhelming feeling of solitude and introspection. This is a visual testament of someone who's concerned with the inevitability of passing time and oblivion.
Willem van der Zanden's PLEH is very personal film filled with moments of joy, sadness, beauty, and a very unique visual style.
For the real music-enthusiasts around here I've made an easy to access playlist of all the songs and pieces used in my latest film PLEH:
1. William Basinski - El Camino Real
2. Mono Memory - Reflections
3. The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
4. Haddaway - What is Love
5. William Basinski - For David Robert Jones
6. William Basinksi - Cascade
7. Grimes - Genesis
8. Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure
9. Igor Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps (Introduction)
10. William Basinski - Melancholia (Untitled 2)
11. Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
12. Deadmau5 - Strobe
13. Oneohtrix Point Never - Zones Without People
14. Carl Orff - Gassenhauer
15. Blanck Mass - Minnesota/Eas Fors/Naked
16. Droid Bishop - Vanisher
As I'd like to remind you all that this film is now available for viewing online, I made something else to "promote" it a little bit more.
Namely, I'd like to ask you this:
Did you know that the word pleh itself is only spoken once in the entire film and that this happens at the exact middle of the 45:35 minutes it comprehends?
There's a lot I want to talk about here that will probably come out incoherently if I try to write about it formally so here are some bullet points.
-Fucking props for putting William Basinski, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Blanck Mass in your film.
-The use of different aspect ratios were awesome and made the scenes filled with characters/actors/real people super unique.
-The "Baby Don't Hurt Me" sequence is hilarious until that slow zoom outside where it feels as if something slightly more sinister is going on, which certainly, in the city, is, made clear by the blinking orange light in the street.
-There's a dance sequence where one person is dancing/performing with another person's girlfriend which was really sweet/funny/awkward…
Willem, my good man, I'm sorry it has taken me such an inordinate amount of time to get around to actually watching this. Now that I am here though, I just have to say that I absolutely adore it! First of all, may I point out the expertly curated playlist. The transitory shots of lights and landscapes are complimented to perfection by the same nature that is the central tenet of Basinski's work. As a result I had goosebumps throughout most of the chapter II. Also, the often seldom mentioned Gassenhauer piece by Carl Orff, which I maintain to be, along with Jean Constantin's Generique Et Car de Police and Schubert's Andantino (if we can allow the name dropping), one…
Seen during an exclusive sneak preview of the rough cut, together with the director himself.
BRILLIANT!!!
