Clair-Obscur (1963)

Overview

The polder, main feature of the Dutch landscape, has a disconcerting effect on the traveller who comes across it. In the film a young man begins to explore this world and finds himself steeped in silence and in the vastness of space. He has a feeling of serenity which he naively endeavours to capture. But the climate of Holland always seeks revenge. Serenity gradually gives way to despair against the backdrop of the bare landscape with no shelter to offer. The very same reasons which explain the polder’s charm now become responsible for a hostile attitude : the vastness becomes oppressive, paradise becomes a hell.