Vaarwel

Summary

Guido Pieters’ first full-length feature film has the air of a fairy tale, but cruel reality continually intervenes to supplement the fantasy.

The director has tried to make a human life span the whole history, 'to project the history of mankind onto the life of one individual’. Past and present converge in the person of the old vagabond Noel, the man who cannot die. Accompanied by his dog, he wanders across the country and through many ages.

Born in a cave in the Stone Age, he meets his end in a modern supermarket. In the meanwhile, the past has yielded up many characters, such as the wandering Jew, Ahasueres, Roman soldiers, crusaders, Mother Earth and a vampire lady. In addition, the protagonist has often wondered about the meaning of life. This is a meaningless question, according to Pieters, who has written: ‘It should be enough to realise that we are alive’.