I Rewatched this gem today for the second time and the film I felt that it has lost none of its impact. An interesting film from on the politics, multiculturalism, religious faith, love. Stylistically, the film is partly reminiscent of Eric Rohmer and some classic Indian films. I remember discovering Pim de la Parra while checking out the screenplays of Martin Scorsese many years back. There is this arthouse exploitation movie Obsessions (1969) in which Scorsese partly contributed to the writing, featuring soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann. That was my first introduction to Surinamese-Dutch filmmaker Pim de la Parra, and I started checking out his catalogue and wanted to see more. It wasn't surprising that he co-produced Blue Movie (1971) and founded Scorpio Films together with Wim Verstappen. After a string of arthouse exploitation movies including the erotic films he produced with Wim Verstappen, Pim de la Parra shocked me with One People (1976), for me it was his most compelling film and will definitely divide audiences. For some this is also an ethnographic film, maybe but there is more to it. The movie manages to give an exact image of multiculturalism, religious clashes, neocolonialism and there is plenty of attention to these elements that, to my taste are typical of the Third world.
Coming from India, I have seen so many films with the same theme, 90% of them are over-dramatized and very few have succeeded in getting it right in portraying the conflicts rooted with local sensibilities. With One People (1976), Pim de la Parra for the most part accurately depicts the emotions running wild between Creole and Hindu culture with Suriname serving as the backdrop.
The movie is set a year after Suriname's independence in 1975. It revolves around Roy, a young black Surinamese studying economics in Amsterdam. When he gets a telegram that his mother is dying, his Dutch girlfriend Karina lends him money for a plane ticket. After 5 years, he sets foot in Suriname and offers his last respect to his mother. He starts an affair with a Hindu nurse Rubia and meets her daily just few days after the passing of his mom. However, unforeseen events pile up, punctuated by religious differences that causes rift in the family. Now, Roy is asked to end the relationship, and with neither his family nor Rubia accepting their relationship due to differences in religion, they elope. The drama intensifies when Karina comes over to pick up Roy. The rest of the movie deals with Roy's inner conflicts, his understanding of an independent homeland and mainly his turbulent relationship with his father, who acts on moral principles with the appearance of a Christian life. Finally, how Roy manages to survive the situation fuelled by socio-economic difference in the city and finding his true home.
I'm glad that Pim de la Parra didn't attempt the role of Romeo and Juliet and do a big shift, moral policing or ask the characters to give sermons on societal reforms with cliched narratives just like they do in most of the popular Indian films. One of the most wonderful things about 'One People' is how things unfold at leisurely pace. Would recommend this movie to the fans of Atif Yilmaz, Jorge Furtado, Férid Boughedir, Yilmaz Güney, Selma Baccar, Ali Özgentürk, Nouri Bouzid, Moufida Tlatli, Abdellatif Ben Ammar and French New Wave lovers.
