ABSTRACT
With Pierre Nora’s concept of the lieu de mémoire (memory site), this chapter explores the collective memory, tradition, and identity of The Netherlands in Dutch cinema and its film music. A recurring theme is The Netherlands as a nation of water. Early sound films, such as Gerard Rutten’s Dood Water (1934, Dead water) and Joris Ivens’s Nieuwe Gronden (1933, New earth), critically explore the ecological consequences of the Zuiderzee land-reclaiming project that was completed in 1932. The two quintessential Dutch idiosyncrasies of communities surrounded by water and fanfares (a sort of brass bands) is the topic of Bert Haanstra’s post-war comedy Fanfare (1958), in which a fanfare rehearses music for a competition. Due to the quarrel of two musicians, the fanfare splits into two separate bands that are ultimately reunited. Jan Mul (1911–71) composed the multi-layered film score, in which on-screen and off-screen as well as diegetic and non-diegetic elements become ingeniously blurred. The film culminates in a finale, in which the two signature tunes of the two competing bands are harmoniously synthesized into one double-orchestra march in E-flat major. In addition, Mul incorporated well-known Dutch nursery rhymes into his score, which humorously underscore the rural scenery, and non-diegetic music, which provide an idyllic ambience to the pastoral village setting. Fanfare continues a longstanding tradition, depicting the cultural and folkloristic heritage of The Netherlands. Music as an icon of specific Dutch identity has always been a featured device of this cinematic tradition.
