Malle Appie

Albert Mol, who was born in Amsterdam in 1917, became famous as a dancer, entertainer, actor and writer and as one of the first famous Dutchmen who was candid about his homosexuality. In addition, for Dutch TV viewers he is unforgettable as a permanent panel member of the game show Wie van de drie? In this intimate portrait, we see the aged Mol in his isolated house in the country in the east of the Netherlands, struggling with a disease that confines him to his house, but lovingly cared for by his life partner. Director Karin Junger turns her role as filmmaker into a theme, while working with an unwilling protagonist. Time and again, she tries to involve Mol in her film plans and suggests possible subjects, but he grumbles that he does not want to be filmed ‘as an old fossil on the couch’ and that he refuses to look back on his life and work with her. ‘It’s as if your tram has reached the terminal and you are forced to go back; that’s pointless’, he says. Still, gradually he divulges more and more, and helped by excerpts from his work, the spectator eventually gets an image of ‘crazy Appie’, as the actor was called by the general public. In the end, it is clear that although the body may not co-operate anymore, the actor and charmer underneath is still alive and kicking. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)