De ramp

For a growing group of people, the flood that hit the Netherlands in February 1953 is an abstract episode from the history books. In Zeeland, the dykes gave way, people and cattle drowned, police and fire brigade acted valiantly and subsequently the Delta Project was implemented. In his documentary, director Koert Davidse visits the badly struck village of Capelle on Schouwen Duiveland, where he encounters survivors who, almost half a century later, still vividly remember the events. Through their often bloodcurdling stories, Davidse describes the lull before the storm (‘it was quite an enjoyable evening’), the bursting of the dykes (‘I thought it was foggy, but it was a billow of water approaching’), the force of the water (‘the ferry was thrown onto the inner dyke’) and the tragic consequences (‘a small child was in the water, clinging to a bale of hay, and when I looked again he was gone’). The carefully built-up tension is beautifully sustained by the ominous soundtrack. The sobriety with which the witnesses talk about the loss of livestock, goods and family, and about the feelings of guilt because they survived, form a harrowing contrast to the inconceivable and sometimes unbearable grief they suffered. The personal tales, told chronologically, are interlaced with unique archive footage that outlines the magnitude of the catastrophe (1635 casualties), and with images of survivors returning to the scene of the calamity.