Another Commercial

Logo: The Dutch Language Film Festival

Announcer: His voice booms. IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR THE DUTCH LANGUAGE FILM FESTIVAL!

The camera is looking out at a sea of empty seats in a movie theater. It looks like the opening for a movie review TV show. In the center, there are two people sitting next to each other. The camera zooms in. We see Geert "Big" Mak wearing a big housecoat over his usual jeans and sweater. He holds a cigar butt that is obviously a prop. He is without his glasses. Next to him is Nelly Frijda. She wears jeans, a sweater and Mak's glasses. Both speak in Dutch with subtitles, unless otherwise noted.

NF: (It's almost time for The Dutch Language Film Festival.)

GM: (Do you think the Americans will like it?)

NF: (Sure, they'll like it better if they speak Dutch.)

GM: (Oh, is this a gag where the subtitles are different from what is said?)

NF: Badly dubbed by a woman with a completely different voice. (Oh no. In fact, even when the voices are dubbed everything will be accurately translated into English.)

GM: (Well, why will speaking Dutch make it better?)

NF: (It's the cultural context. You can translate, but still lose so much. For example, this commercial is hilarious, but only a Dutch speaker would know why.)

Five seconds of silence go by while they stare blankly at the camera. Then, they laugh uncontrollably for a few seconds, then stop.

NF: (See?)

GM: (Yes, but I think they'll enjoy the festival anyway. Do we have time for another joke?)

Logo: The Dutch Language Film Festival

NF: (No, the trailer's ending.)

Copyright notice: Feel free to link to this commercial or quote from it. If you produce it, that's €50 and a copy on DVD for my mother.