The sorry state of gender relations isn't much different in the work of Vincent van Gogh and 1-900, a film directed by his distant relative, Theo van Gogh. 1-900 is a depressing but well crafted little movie about two people who communicate exclusively on the telephone.
In this two character drama set in two Amsterdam apartments, Thomas (Ad van Kempen), a 33-year-old architect, chooses Sarah (Ariane Schluter), a thirtyish professor of art, from a selection of voice mail messages supplied by a phone sex service. In their first conversation, the two discover they
have a mutual interest in art, but Thomas gets offended by Sarah's laughter during their initial discussion about sex, and hangs up on her. The next morning, Sarah calls Thomas back and they masturbate while talking to one another.
Eventually, Thomas and Sarah make a weekly event out of their phone sex, but Sarah becomes increasingly frustrated with Thomas's arrogant manner during their role-playing. She then threatens to end the relationship when Thomas says he has figured out her last name from a chance meeting with one of
her former students. Sarah agrees to continue calling Thomas only if he promises to stop snooping into her private life, but the next time she calls she reaches Wilbert, Thomas's father, who informs her that Thomas has died suddenly. Stunned by the news, Sarah tries to talk about Thomas with his
father to ease her pain, but receives an even bigger shock when Thomas reveals himself to be Wilbert, adding that he just wanted to see how much she cared. The relationship ends on this pathetic note.
1-900 originated as an "interactive" play titled "06" (the Dutch equivalent to the US "1-900" number) in which audience members could choose between different phone sex characters to view in different cubicles. For the film version (also originally titled 06), director Theo van Gogh pared down the
play to only two characters. Coincidentally, a 1996 American release, DENISE CALLS UP, which also presented lonely thirtysomething characters who engage in phone sex but never meet, more closely approximated the structure of the play. But whereas DENISE CALLS UP is an empty farce, 1-900 is a
provocative drama about emotional emptiness.
Surprisingly, 1-900 maintains interest despite its limited (two room) setting and intense focus on two cautiously developed characters. Van Gogh makes the shrewd point that no matter how detached Thomas and Sarah pretend to be from one another, they are actually revealing a great deal and getting
very close (phone sex represents only a means to that end). The film is an actor's dream, and Ariane Schluter and Ad van Kempen are always believable, even when their actions are inscrutable (for example, when they suddenly assume the roles of father and daughter during one discussion). Schluter
perhaps deserves extra kudos for executing the more emotionally demanding role.
Like his forebear, van Gogh complements his themes with adroit technique. (Amusing references to art history also abound.) The circular camera movements in the opening shots counter the theatricality of the material, while suggesting two scared and lonely characters circling one another. The color
schemes of the two apartments suggest the truth about the characters well before the audience gets to know them (Thomas's apartment is a cold, dark blue, while Sarah reclines like "Olympia" on a warm red couch). A chess game late in their relationship mirrors its growing complexity, as well as the
different roles they play. Finally, Sarah's fish tank symbolizes both the voyeuristic function of the cinema screen and the glass house appearance of Sarah's life after Thomas finds out more about her than she wants him to know.
Fans of erotica may be disappointed to find that most of the masturbation is off camera and that 1-900 is more rueful than erotic or funny. But for those looking for a different sort of relationship movie, 1-900 is worth picking up. (Nudity, sexual situations, adult situations, profanity.) leave a comment