Synopsis
Advertising for customers in Bataviastad ("First prize is a grey Renault Clio!") and the Chocolate Festival in Zutphen ("Zoom in on Zutphen") are two "phenomena" that filmmaker Michiel van Erp approaches in an almost anthropological way in A Fun Fair behind the Dikes. Van Erp puts the two ambitious supervisors of these events under the microscope in this documentary, which deals with how the average Dutchman enjoys mass entertainment. He follows them during the preparations for their finest hour, when they aren't always revealing their most humane sides. Like in Van Erp's previous documentaries, this produces a detailed, subtly hilarious, but not scornful or moralising portrait of the Dutch character: opportunistic, vain and yet thoroughly Calvinistic "grocers" in entertainment. The recordings of their efforts are mixed with footage of the places where Holland relaxes, like Gay Pride, the Libelle Summer Week (sponsored by the most popular Dutch women's magazine), the Efteling amusement park and the Prinsengracht Concert. Van Erp captures the organisers and participants at these events as well. The recurring theme is a group of Chinese tourists travelling across the Netherlands who, together with the director, watch the folkloric spectacle with unsuspecting amazement.
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