Van Warmerdam’s short film Met losse Handen (No Hands, 2004) is a nimble, thought-provoking metaphor that can evoke poetic feelings and memories in the observer. Who cannot remember riding a bicycle with no hands down a narrow path on a fine late summer’s day? The subjective film camera invites the viewer to follow its gaze: from the initial close scrutiny of the bicycle to verify the stability of the no-hands ride, followed after a few moments by a look downwards, which then widens into the distance and begins to climb like in a dream, gaining in height like an errant thought in flight. In seemingly complete freedom the camera’s gaze soon circles the trees to the right at a dizzy height, swings to the left as if it were doing a “no-hands” glider flight and finally returns after only a short time to the ground, where it resumes its initial state of concentration, ignoring the surroundings as if engaged in introspection. The film, which is shown in a virtually unbroken loop, appears to be an endless repetition of a cyclical movement, the up and down of which finds a parallel in many things.

via MUDAM: Marijke van Warmerdam.