Rotterdam 2016 Review: BEYOND SLEEP

One of the tasks Dutch high-school boys and girls need to conquer is finishing the dreaded Dutch "literature list", meaning they need to have read a certain number of famous Dutch books. One of the more often-used titles to put on it has been Willem Frederik Herman's 1966 novel Nooit Meer Slapen (meaning "Never Sleep Again", and recently published in English under the title Beyond Sleep). Its popularity is not a mystery: while dense in layers and themes, its story and Herman's use of language is simple, with short no-nonsense sentences and often caustic wit. As such, it is one of the most lauded and best known modern Dutch novels in existence, and while it had often been tried, nobody so far had managed to film it.

Until recently, that is. Opening this year's International Film Festival Rotterdam, we got the world premiere of Boudewijn Koole's adaptation of Beyond Sleep. And his effort results in a sedate but straightforward, honest take on the book's story.

In Beyond Sleep we follow Alfred, a Dutch geology student who goes trekking through Norway's northernmost Finnmark region, to see if he can find evidence for a far-fetched scientific theory about meteors. Accompanying him are three Norwegian fellow scientists, working on other assignments.

The group starts in high spirits, but after a few days the harsh long-distance walking through the beautiful-but-barren landscape starts taking its toll, both physically and mentally. Close enough to the North pole that the sun never sets, and pestered by clouds of mosquitoes, Alfred has trouble sleeping, and while his companions seem untiring and unfazed, Alfred is constantly confronted with his own clumsiness. As he gets weaker and weaker, his feelings of uselessness and self-doubt grow stronger and stronger... and with nothing to distract him, Alfred is forced to face some of his inner demons. Soon, misunderstandings, delusions and even paranoia set in.

With most of the film consisting of Alfred walking in a bleak landscape muttering to himself, Beyond Sleep is a very sedate film. Director Boudewijn Koole's biggest challenge was to keep the many shots diverse and sufficiently non-boring enough to keep his audience awake. Whether he succeeded or not depends on who you talk to. I liked the film and so did most of the local press, but I have also talked with several people who were annoyed by the slow pacing.

Be that as it may, it is a good thing that the cast does great work here, first and foremost among them Reinout Scholten van Aschat as Alfred, who wears his emotions on his sleeves without seeming theatrical. His ordeals look realistic and he has the audiences' sympathies, even though those same audiences may exclaim "idiot!" at several of Alfred's stupider moments.

So Beyond Sleep looks good, has a great cast, a beautiful landscape and a haunting soundtrack. What it doesn't have is Willem Frederik Herman's distinctly acidic prose, and that does make the film a bit glacial during its quieter moments. But all in all, Boudewijn Koole has made a mostly satisfying adaptation.

Rotterdam audiences generally thought so as well, granting the film a rating of 3.9 out of 5, and that is no mean feat.