Rembrandt fecit 1669

The film is about Rembrandt’s last years. In that period the painter made a great many self portraits. In those pictures there is a dark and lonely face. The account is built around them. The camera stays inside the studio. Mixing paint and working the canvas are shown at length. There is almost no speech. The women of the house are part of the account. Saskia, Geertje and Hendrickje pass through in turn. His son Titus is with him too. The painter’s work and his life stand inside one another. The film shows without passing judgement. Drawing conclusions is left to the viewer. Frans Stelling and Ton de Koff take the leads, playing the painter young and old, in Jos Stelling’s Dutch film of 1977.