Shoot the nets..!


View at Zeughauskino - Deutsches Historisches Museum
  • Genre: Documentary film
  • Jaar: 1951
  • Speelduur: 00:19:16
  • Beschrijving: Over the images of a rough sea and outgoing fishing boats runs an intertitle: "This film could not have been made without the aid of the people and the government of the Netherlands who have worked together with the support of the Marshall Plan, to bring about the economic recovery of their country. Above all, a debt of thanks is owed to the Dutch herring fishermen, the men who shoot the nets!" After this title, the Marshall Plan will no longer play a role in the film - neither in the commentary nor through the famous logo. In fact, director van der Horst is much more interested in specific events and work processes than in a story in which the turn for the better comes with the aid deliveries. In this, "Shoot the nets..!" already prepares "Houen Zo!". There, van der Horst dispensed entirely with commentary, which he already uses very sparingly in "Shoot the nets..!", almost exclusively to provide contextual information. He never duplicates the images. More important than the linguistically conveyed message are, on the sound level anyway, the distinctly present sounds and the terse commands with which the fishermen organize their work. There is no music, but van der Horst composes his "atmospheric" sounds - waves, wind, seagull cries, radio messages, shouts dominate. The story is only hinted at, focused on a seemingly simple process: catching herring. An exposition prepares for the departure, the hard work on the high seas makes up the main part. The return to the harbor, in rough seas and high waves, gives a breath-taking ending, actually an abortion, because not even the entry itself, let alone the unloading of the catch are still shown. The preparations for the first departure of the new fishing season, with the picturesque-looking costumes of the women tying nets, the precise everyday tasks of lubricating the anchor chain, painting the boat, making and stacking the barrels, show a community that works entirely towards one goal. Precisely, calmly, the preparations run and van der Horst provides a kind of compendium of all the necessary work before the fleet of fishermen can leave the harbor for the first time in the year. The film maintains this care towards the different trades and even hand movements, again and again focusing on the interlocking of the work steps. The camera is magnificently directed and "Shoot the nets..!" is certainly one of the most beautiful films produced with ECA funds. In 1951 the film won the prize for best documentary at Cannes, and the next year the filmmaker was able to repeat the success with "Houen Zo!" © Rainer Rother (machine-translated from German)
  • Trefwoorden: VICTOR-E project / seaside / ship/boat / fishing / harbour / manual work
  • Provider: Deutsches Historisches Museum
  • Rechten: In Copyright / USIA - Embassy of the United States of America / Press Office, Berlin
  • Productiemaatschappij: Herman van der Horst Haarlem, Netherlands, for ECA Netherlands
  • Kleur: Black & White
  • Director: Herman van der Horst
  • Sound: With sound
  • Collectie: Films of the Marshall Plan
  • Language: en