ABSTRACT

The fourth chapter takes the ethical distinction Jacques Lacan makes between a hero, an ordinary man, and a rabble as a lead, and it detects hitherto unexplored affinities between ALS TWEE DRUPPELS WATER and SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE. As the chapter progresses, the definition of heroism becomes increasingly complicated, discussing ‘authentic’ partisans versus characters who walk a thin line between treason and heroism, such as the female teacher in PASTORALE 1943. The final four films focus on male characters who dedicate themselves to a self-declared mission and are determined to persevere, no matter what. This reaches its climax in the nail-biting film SPOORLOOS, which tries to explain why a hero should be seen as someone ‘capable of excess’.

KEYWORDS

Heroes and rabbles – martyrdom – excluded from a symbolic network – capable of excess

Is Ducker, the blond-haired protagonist in ALS TWEE DRUPPELS WATER, a hero, a rabble, or perhaps an ordinary man? This question seems fairly easy to answer at first sight. In the eyes of the resistance, he is a rabble: they do not believe there is a Dorbeck, so Ducker has to take full responsibility for all his outrageous activities. Ducker himself believes he is an ordinary man-turnedhero, for he did his courageous deeds merely on the request of secret agent Dorbeck. In the eyes of the priest who stands by him in the last moments of his life, Ducker is an unfortunate ordinary man. The priest might have presumed that Dorbeck was only a figment of Ducker's imagination, but he fully supported him in his quest of proving the existence of Dorbeck. Hero or rabble are irrelevant categories to the priest; in his perception, Ducker was just a woeful guy trapped in an awkward situation. Ducker was in need of spiritual help, and the priest was ready to give it to him according to the commandment ‘Love thy neighbour’.

Following the reading above, the distinctions between hero, rabble, and ordinary man are basically a matter of perspective in ALS TWEE DRUPPELS WATER. The qualification depends on whether one believes Ducker's story to be true or not.