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6.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Zeeland: 'the Hidden Paradise' remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, it depends on how much you like looking at black-and-white footage of farmers. If you’re looking for high-octane thrills, look elsewhere. But if you’ve got ten minutes and want to see a place that feels like it exists in a glass jar, give it a shot. People who hate slow pacing will find this absolutely unbearable.
FitzPatrick’s voice is the real star here. He sounds exactly like the guy narrating a cartoon from 1940. It’s all very polite and slightly condescending, but it works.
There is a lot of talk about how they scrub their houses every single Saturday. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be impressive or just a bit obsessive. At one point, I started wondering if they ever just sat down and did nothing. Everything is so tidy it’s almost intimidating.
The dog carts are the highlight. It feels like a different planet. You don’t see people using dogs to haul dairy products down the street anymore, do you? It’s a nice, simple image that stays with you.
Compared to something like The Twelve Chairs, this is a completely different beast. There’s no irony here. It’s just earnest travel footage. It reminds me a bit of the stuff they used to show in schools before the internet ruined our attention spans.
The fields look nice. They kept talking about how the land was stolen from the sea. That’s a heavy thought to drop in a travelogue, but they just sort of move on to the next shot of a windmill. I wanted to know more about the sea part, but nope, time for more cheese talk.
It’s a breezy watch. Not life-changing, not deep, just a quiet moment of looking at a place that probably doesn't look like this anymore. 🧀