In 鈥淥ccupied City,鈥� a young woman with an even voice narrates, with rigorous specificity, Nazi encounters and crimes throughout Amsterdam during World War II. The accounts go address by address, and so does McQueen鈥檚 camera.
Yet the images that play throughout are of modern day Amsterdam. In the roving, 4 hour-plus documentary made by McQueen, the 鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥� director, with his partner, the Dutch documentarian and author Bianca Stigter, past and present are fused 鈥� or at least provocatively juxtaposed.
The effect can be startling, stirring and confounding. An elderly woman shifts to country music in an apartment complex where, we鈥檙e told, a family was once arrested and sent to a concentration camp. A radio throbs with Bob Marley in a park where German officer once resided in the surrounding townhouses. A boy plays a virtual reality videogame where an execution took place.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like once upon a time there was this place called Earth,鈥� McQueen said in an interview alongside Stigter.
鈥淥ccupied City,鈥� which A24 releases in theaters Dec. 25, includes no archival footage or talking heads. Instead, it invites the viewer to consider the sometimes hard-to-fathom distance between one of history鈥檚 darkest chapters and now. It鈥檚 about remembering and forgetting.
鈥淵ou want to wake people up and at the same time take them with you,鈥� says McQueen, a British expat who has made Amsterdam his adoptive home with Stigter and their children.
The film is rooted in Stigter鈥檚 illustrated book which likewise catalogued the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam and the methodical murdering of its Jewish citizens. Stigter and McQueen have researched their own address. A few doors down, McQueen says, a Jewish man in hiding paid for his keep by teaching a family鈥檚 child how to play piano. Their lessons were conducted quietly by tapping on the table.
鈥淥ccupied City鈥� details how the Nazi occupation unfolded, door to door, name by name. At the same time, it can be hard to reconcile those accounts with the accompanying footage that captures mostly civic harmony throughout modern Amsterdam. Though 鈥淥ccupied City" touches on monuments and museums to the Holocaust, its imagery mostly lingers on the thriving life of a city. Life moves along, relentlessly.
鈥淭he present erases history,鈥� says McQueen. 鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be a time when no one is going to be around who knew certain people. It kind of echoes what鈥檚 happening with the Second World War. There鈥檚 not a lot of people around who can testify about what actually went on in that time. They鈥檙e all passed. This film in some ways is erecting those memories in another way.鈥�
McQueen is currently in post-production on a more traditional film about WWII set in London: 鈥淏litz,鈥� for Apple, starring Saoirse Ronan. Though in many ways McQueen is among the most fiercely contemporary filmmakers working, history has deeply animated much of his work. 鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥� plunged into slavery-era America. His spanned generations of West Indian immigrant life in London. He has dramatized the Irish hunger strike of 1981 (鈥淗unger鈥�) and, most recently, the (鈥淕renfell鈥�), in which 72 died.
鈥淚 feel recording is very important. Witnessing is very important. Not looking away is very important,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he thing about cinema that鈥檚 powerful is an audience and a community witnessing something together. There鈥檚 nothing more special, there鈥檚 nothing more powerful than to have this kind of communal witness to something.鈥�
Stigter considers 鈥淥ccupied City鈥� not a history lesson but 鈥渁n experience.鈥�
鈥淵our brain is programmed to match, to put together what you hear and what you see,鈥� she says. 鈥淗ere, sometimes it鈥檚 hard to find that link. And sometimes you find it.鈥�
The length of 鈥淥ccupied City,鈥� which is playing with an intermission, encourages rumination. Drifting from narration to imagery and back again, McQueen says, is part of the experience. He would rather it was longer, if anything.
鈥淭here is a 36-hour version of this. We shot everything in the book. Maybe one day I鈥檒l get a chance to show that,鈥� says McQueen. 鈥淭he actual method of shooting was about that. You just have to let it happen.鈥�
鈥淭he ordinary becomes extraordinary,鈥� he adds. 鈥淎s you get older, you realize it鈥檚 the small things in life that are the treasures. There鈥檚 a value. There鈥檚 a value to sitting with a cup of tea with a biscuit. I鈥檒l have it any day.鈥�
In the context of such horrors, some scenes, like a boy and girl gently kissing, become 鈥渕onumental,鈥� Stigter says. Ghosts are everywhere, whether they鈥檙e acknowledged or not. In the film, Amsterdam is also literally occupied 鈥� busy, running errands, biking and, more often than not, on their phones. 鈥淥h my God,鈥� sighs McQueen, shaking his head. 鈥淭here it is in black and white, even though it鈥檚 in color.鈥�
Stigter and McQueen made 鈥淥ccupied City鈥� through the pandemic so it also shows the waves of COVID-19, from lockdown to vaccine protests to parties, once again, in the street. Another upheaval is quickly moved on from. Other losses come and go. The film is dedicated to Stigter鈥檚 father, who died a year and a half ago.
鈥淵ou try to hold onto things but they always slip away. It鈥檚 like this film. After four hours and 22 minutes, it鈥檚 done,鈥� says McQueen. 鈥淲hat I want this film to be is almost like tossing a stone into a pond. The ripple effects afterwards, how it enters the viewer鈥檚 everyday life, that鈥檚 what I hope for.鈥�
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
