This extends a personal streak of mine. In all of the years that I have been watching movies, I have yet to see a bad Dutch film. Granted, the vast majority of my Dutch cinematic education has come by way of Verhoeven. I'm still counting it.

Morlang continues in this tradition of quality cinema from the Netherlands, even though it is both a debut from director Tjebbo Penning, and filmed in English, with no subtitling needed. For this reason, if you happen to be or happen to know someone that is kind of iffy about watching foreign films, Morlang would be a wonderful place to start. It has a story and tone different than movies of America, and doesn't have the “scary” subtitling that alienates the more squeamish viewer from foreign films.

Morlang is shot in a style much like movies such as 21 Grams, with a non-linear plot that weaves back and forth through time, and occasionally houses flashbacks within flashbacks. I question the use of this technique in most cases, because in cases like 21 Grams, it rarely seems like something the director needs to do. It is a question of over-stylizing a movie needlessly, and it frequently leads to discredit of emotion, and doesn't lend it itself easily to building suspense. A movie like Almodovar's Talk to Her benefits from its non-linear storytelling, but films like this are more the exception that the norm.

Morlang's technique has purpose as well. The general rule of figuring out whether or not a film benefits from non-linear presentation, is by putting the events back into proper order in one's head, and seeing whether or not the film is more/less effective. In the case of Morlang, I can't imagine the events of the picture being entirely interesting put in proper order; the movie would move quite slowly. It is the one case that I can remember that timeline jumping served its purpose by just being an entertainment gimmick.

I know it sounds like I calling the film cheap, but I am not. Morlang is deep in its characterization, its emotional pain, and best of all, Penning tricks his audience into feeling sympathy for someone that is undeserving of it. It is one thing for a movie to make you feel something; it is another when a movie is deceitful in its emotional provocation. It works not only in its tenderness, but also as a comment on the narrative structure of cinema. This is tricky, sensitive material for a first-time director to be taking on, and I admire Penning's willingness to do so.

Morlang may be a difficult film to find on the rental shelves, or in other video stores, but if you see it somewhere along your travels, I hope that you remember this review, and give it a look. You won't be disappointed.