Morgen gaat 't beter!

An interesting film with a rather thin storyline, about a not too smart schoolgirl who has to provide for herself. She struggles through her exams and starts looking for a job. The acting seems overdone and full of mannerisms, but that is my feeling today in 2006. I've seen people who were young in 1939, and some of them show the same mannerisms, so probably it was normal behaviour in 1939 to be tense, to allow people to snap at you or to submit to class distinction and sexism. The film is full of things that are thoroughly outdated, and very interesting because of that. The story gets more depth when you realize that the background is the despair people felt in the nineteen thirties-crisis. There was no help if you couldn't help yourself. Many people lived in extreme poverty and died early because of harsh living conditions. On top of that there was war looming large. The despair comes out in the worked-up jollity, and the frantic singing of the title song, Tomorrow will be better! sounds like a mantra.