De Maasbruggen

Summary

Film about the flow of traffic on the bridges over the river Maas in Rotterdam. The Maasbruggen begins with an overview shot from the Koninginnebrug. The film shows bridges being raised and lowered, as well as pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trams, and trains. The viewer gets the impression of a continuous, chaotic flow. The movements in the camera settings generate tension, but the editing is rather flat: ‘I wanted to edit the film cold, i.e. without dissolves and that kind of nonsense’. The camera angles and visual compositions were often striking. Here, Schuitema’s background as a ‘Nieuw-Zakelijke’ photographer was clear.

The sharp light and long shadows indicate that many shots were filmed in the late afternoon. As cameramen from the early glory days of Hollywood used to call it, ‘the magic hour’, or the time of day immediately before they began to grumble ‘I’m losing my light’. The young composer Koos van de Griend was commissioned to write music that would closely follow the film in terms of rhythm and theme.