The Dress

1996 comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A dress is designed and created and goes through various owners.

An impromptu Alex van Warmerdam fest has commenced! This, a freewheeling sorta-anthology film with some recurring characters, meanders beautiful, a comedy more about the gags than it is any of the characters or even the story. It's got a Scandanavian comedic vibe, one scene involving some sort of puppet-stage/calliope ending up in a river even reminding me of Roy Andersson, and chances are that if you have the sensibilities for that particular brand of comedy, this will hit some sweet spots. Unlike van Warmerdam's Borgman, which I'm still convinced is some sort of allegory I didn't understand, this just seems interested in giving the audience opportunities to laugh at the misfortunes of the characters because anybody who comes in contact with this dress or even the idea of the dress has very little luck.

Cleverly, this really is the life of the titular article of clothing. We see its conception, its birth, its early life, its mid-life crisis, its death, and its comic afterlife. The dress isn't exactly cursed, but the human beings it comes into contact with seem to be. It doesn't seem very nice to laugh at these sad souls, but it's hard to help it. Things are always so unpredictable, and the surprises just get you.

Van Warmerdam himself plays a character named De Smet. Translation: The Stain. The ticket taker who keeps popping into these mini-stories isn't necessarily a great character for the #metoo era, but I thought he was great anyway. That probably disqualifies me to be president of the United States.