Review of It's All So Quiet (2013) by Matt M — 25 Oct 2013

As implied in the title, all is quiet and hushed in Leopold's film about a middle aged farmer living in the Dutch countryside with his ill elderly father, whom he is forced to take care of. Here, we follow his attempts at renovating his stale and monotonous life of isolation as well as the re-discovery of homosexual feelings he kept repressed and fought against all his life.

The pace of the film is widely unhurried, and this choice seems to respect the natural pace dictated by Helmer, the lead characters, and his lifestyle. This choice of realism can be quite demanding for some but ultimately proves to be rewarding, although the film often risks falling into oblivion due to its faithful nature towards its atmospheric dictations.

Of course, the experiment would have failed had it not been for the recently deceased Jeroen Willens, who carries the weight of the movie on his shoulders with a solemn intimate performance that also serves as a final testimony to his talent.