In the spring of 2019, together with my musician friend Marnix, I started with the creation of a character. A character based on the region in the Netherlands we are both from; Westfriesland. The region is known for its stiff, stubborn, not a word too much, and concealed character, but as a result of the boredom, it is also known for her typical eccentric provincials who attempt to conquer the world. Because with no drama happening around you, you have to create your own.
The project started out as an ode to the way we always exaggerated our lives as a result of the boredom we have experienced growing up in the flat and dull Westfriesland. This ode is the character Martin Malibu. Martin is a parody on romanticising provincial life, and the pain and burdens of the troubled provincial artist. Martin’s life is dominated by his dream of becoming a singer, following in the footsteps of world famous West-Frisian singer George Baker.
The fictional character, played by my friend Marnix, started out with a short film followed by the debut release of Martin’s music. In the process of creating this film I already started noticing how similar Marnix started to behave to Martin. He started to wear the same clothes, say the same things and act the same way as Martin. This made me curious to research this further. I started to approach the character in a more documentary way to slowly introduce him from his fictional world into the real world. I noticed that the more I was doing this, the less I had to direct it.
Marnix started morphing into Martin.
*click
*click
*click
MARTIN MALIBU
In the spring of 2019, together with my school friend Marnix, I started with the creation of a character based on the region in the Netherlands we are both from; Westfriesland. The region is known for its stiff, stubborn, not a word too much, and concealed character. We named this character ‘Martin Malibu’. Martin is a parody on romanticising provincial life, and the pain and burdens of the troubled provincial artist. Martin’s life is dominated by his dream of becoming a singer, following in the footsteps of world famous Westfrisian singer George Baker.
In the process of making this character I noticed how my friend Marnix slowly started to behave like Martin. He started to wear the same clothes, say the same things and act the same way as Martin. This made me curious to research this further. I started to approach the character in a more documentary way to slowly introduce him from his fictional world into the real world. The more I was doing this, the less I had to direct it. With all its consequences, Marnix started morphing into Martin.
A project that started as a film about a fictional character, ended in a documentary about how this fictional character took over a real person.
2019/2020
Directed by Linus Kropp
Written and produced by Linus Kropp & Marnix Vinkenborg
Music by Marnix Vinkenborg
Cinematography by Io Sivertsen & Linus Kropp
CAST
Martin Malibu: Marnix Vinkenborg
Lidia: Luca Bryssinck
Dancer: Lexi L'allume
Man: Hans Otjes
CREW
First AD: Rowan Groes
Production assistant: Molly Baas
Sound engineer: Joris van Suijdam
Translation: Daan Folkeringa
Runner: Robert Vinkenborg
Edited by Linus Kropp
Special thanks to:
Muziekcafé Backstage, Hoorn
Huis Verloren, Hoorn
Museumstoomtram Hoorn-Medemblik
Ouderen ontmoetingsplaats De Krent, Hoorn