1 spitting images, blind spots, and dark mirrors 55 From Ideal Ego to Ego-Ideal: als twee druppels water 57 Putting on a Charade: süskind 63 Hair, Hair, Flow it, (Do Not) Show it: milo 69 No Sheiks of Baghdad: gebroken spiegels 72 The Ambiguity of (an) Avatar: r u there 75 Traversing the Fantasy 79 A Tale of Two Sisters: zwart water 82 Conclusion: Through a Glass Darkly 85

2 in the name of fathers—overbearing, flying, or otherwise 91 A Preacher Teacher, A Mouthpiece of his Wife, and an Irresponsible Bon Vivant 96 Father as a Memory-Image: pervola, sporen in de sneeuw 100 Great Pretenders: bloed, zweet & tranen; lek, and karakter 102 First Reformed Fathers: The Sub-Genre of Religious Fervour 113 Pathetic Fathers as Addressee: de avonden and abel 117 A (Broken) Chain of Dead Fathers: gluckauf 120 Restoring the Image of the Father 124 In Search of the Imaginary Father: de vliegende hollander 126 Conclusion: Three Fathers 129

3 that obscure object of desire 135 Amour Fou: Love Romances In Dialogue with French Cinema 140 Posthumous Infatuation: havinck 144 Love Regained at the Point of Dying: de grot 147 The Pros and Cons of Good Etiquette: het meisje en de dood and wildschut 151 Love after an Act of Violence: de poolse bruid 155 Perhaps Love: boven is het stil 156 6 | The Frequency of Love: 170 hz and out of love 158 Only the Bastards: hemel and instinct 161 The Devil’s Advocate: loos 165 Conclusion: Desire of the Other 167

4 from ordinary men and rabbles to heroes 175 Accidental ‘Hero’: soldaat van oranje 177 Female Daredevils: pastorale 1943 and het meisje met het rode haar 181 The Partisan and the Schemer: in de schaduw van de overwinning 184 The Joke of Being a Hero: de ijssalon 187 Du Kannst, Denn Du Sollst: beyond sleep versus dokter pulder zaait papavers 189 The Fury of a Patient Man: flanagan 195 In There, No One Can Hear You Scream: spoorloos 197 Conclusion: Capable of Excess 202

5 paranoia, psychosis, the horrific-fantastic 225 A Killer in the Canals: amsterdamned 228 Existential Isolation: paranoia 230 Lady in the Lake: van de koele meren des doods 251 Memoirs of a Nerve Patient: shock head soul 241 A Cyborg Messiah: robocop 245 Dutch ExistenZ: de marionettenwereld and wereld van stilstand 247 Dark Water: de poel 251 One Sister-bride for Seven Brothers in a Dutch Slasher: de johnsons 254 Conclusion: Stranger Things 257

6 passages à l’acte 265 A Calculated Blackout: joão en het mes 269 Murderous Acts With or Without Actors: rooie sien and het teken van het beest 271 Licence to Ride a Cab: nachtrit 274 Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves: tirza 277 It’s Oh So Quiet: onder ons 280 Chronicle of a Death Foretold: schemer 283 I’m Deranged: van god los 285 Requiem for a Champ: wolf 293 Conclusion: Where Is My Mind? 295

7 from historical discomfort to historical trauma 299 ‘Thy Paths of Righteousness’: max havelaar 301 A Constitutional Habit of Stinging: de schorpioen 305 | 7 Song to the Siren: het zwijgen 310 Smooth Catholic Criminals: de bende van oss 312 Strategic Masquerades: zwartboek 314 A Dutch rashomon: de aanslag 321 Time Out of Joint: leedvermaak 324 Death and the Maiden: charlotte 329 Married to the Mob: layla m. 332 Conclusion: What Time Is It There? 335

8 aphanisis 343 Guilty of Desire: amnesia 346 Gender Trouble: monsieur hawarden 350 Farmer Seeks Wife: kracht 353 Rewriting Brueghel into Utopian Feminism: antonia 355 Take These Broken Wings: bluebird 357 Haptic Effects (With a Proviso) 361 Ascetic Styles: guernsey and brownian movement 364 Leave No Trace: code blue and nothing personal 367 Winter Sonata: verdwijnen 372 Dancing in the Dark: lena 374 Conclusion: The Discomfort of Strangers 376

9 hysteria, neurosis, perversion 385 Portrait of a Lady: eline vere 389 Runaway ‘Mother’: nadine 391 Call Me By My—Not Your—Name: black butterflies 394

A Walking Contradiction with Prussian Sour: mysteries 396 Mother and Son with Champagne and Mozart: de witte waan 403 Unruly Behaviour: pentimento versus spetters and showgirls 406 Karma Chameleon: elle 410 Enjoying It Like a Virgin: flesh + blood 415 A Calvinist Pervert: brimstone 420 Conclusion: Ciphered Messages and Silent Contracts 424

epilogue 433 Awakenings: soldaat van oranje, turks fruit and borgman 437

bibliography 443

filmography 453 8 | index of concepts 463

index of films 467

index of names 477

Table of Contents