Dood water

Summary

Social drama about the closing and drainage of the Zuiderzee.

Dood water opens with a prologue about the Netherlands' everlasting battle against the sea and the history of the Afsluitdijk ('enclosure dam'). It's accompanied by music played by the Amsterdam Concertgebouworkest led by conductor Willem Mengelberg. Then the little fishing village of Volendam comes into view. Its inhabitants are unhappy about the desalination of the former Zuiderzee. Fisherman Brak encourages his son to become a farmer, fisherman De Geus wants radical action against the Afsluitdijk while his helper Jaap recognises the opportunities that land reclamation brings. He becomes a civil servant, an act which makes him a traitor in the eyes of the villagers.

Gerard Rutten's film earned him a Golden Lion in Venice for best photography. After the war he would become a well-known director of films like Sterren stralen overal and Het wonderlijke leven van Willem Parel, with Wim Sonneveld.