Antenna Film Festival: Glass – My Unfulfilled Life review
Addy Fong reviews Glass – My Unfulfilled Life at Antenna Film Festival:
‘What if more people did their best to be famous before they died?’ wonders Rogier Kappers, a 52yr old Dutch filmmaker, musician, and divorced father of two who’s suddenly found himself building a house that’s slowly sinking like the dreams he once had. Perhaps he’s hit an existential midlife crisis that I, an Asian-Australian female in her 30s knows too well.
There’s nothing more comforting than facing our own morality, seeking social validation, and finding comfort in a shared struggle, ‘He had a job, but then he got burnt out.’ Such comfort I’ve found in reading those words on screen about a middle aged Dutch man I’ve never met, who’s also unlucky in life and in love. (I am half-kidding here because we need to learn to laugh at ourselves and art helps us quickly realise this)
Rogier Kappers’ Glass – My Unfulfilled Life is a coming-of-age documentary that follows the highs and lows of a struggling musician, whose livelihood threatens to shatter when he decides to pursue an absurd childhood dream of becoming a musician on the singing glasses. The absurdity is inspiring as we follow his relentless pursuit to become a famous street musician, despite the perceived social stigma. Filmed by Kappers’ himself over the course of seven years, this longitudinal documentary follows Rogier’s journey in learning and perfecting an instrument he created, collecting an assortment of wine glasses to assemble a glass harp in his pursuit of fame.
Constructed by observational wide shots, voiceover narration, home video and self filmed footage, the film acts as a journal of his thoughts poking fun at his successes and failures as he chronicles his journey of mastering the singing glasses. There is an intimacy created in sharing so much of his life over seven years as he showcases both his successes and his failings, the result is a heartwarming and enjoyable film that viewers can enjoy. For cow enthusiasts, the film also features a few shots of cows, which provided me with great delight in addition to following Kappers’ journey in mastering his glass instrument.
Social worth and the need to be accepted in art whether it be music, film, or literature is presented as a topic when Kapper remarks ‘they see me as a curiosity not a musician’ hit me with such comfort and sadness when he also states, ‘I wanted to die. I wasn’t good enough’. The challenge of battling with imposter syndrome in carving a unique voice and brand as a creative trying to make sense of the world. To create contrast in the documentary Rogier’s mum is shown to play ‘traditional’ and ‘well-respected’ instruments like the violin and oboe, which both showcases the family’s shared love of music but also presents us with the questions of what is music, what is art, created and performed for, audience and intention. Non-traditional paths of artmaking are always challenging to navigate as it feels like unknown territory.
Glass – My Unfulfilled Life is a quirky observational documentary that provides hope to the dreamers out there. I appreciated watching Rogier’s meticulous care shown whilst purchasing and testing out specific glasses from op shops, labelling each of the glasses by pitch, exactly the stuff I would do for, ‘Rogier’s life is indeed filled with the most wonderful ideas’ and this sense of community in creating lives beyond us merely existing, uncertainty and mistakes are perhaps what makes us human.
Watching, I found such inspiration in following Rogier’s determination and persistence in learning the singing glasses despite the failures and disappointments he faced throughout. I admired his passionate intensity, his determined brain, a sort of rebellion to the traditional ways of living and earning income, simply being an artist.
The hope of a manager promising brand deals, the upskilling and training of his singing voice, an invitation to perform in Dubai, the eventual recognition of his talent, provision of talk show spots, and being invited to play on stage to 12,000 people is perhaps one of the many indicators of success. However, success like much of life is fleeting. His love life is lacking but Rogier is still hopeful, despite the lack of responses from women, his glass instrument risks breaking due to the need to have it stored in checked luggage but Rogier is still hopeful, his composer hero rejects him after an awkward post concert encounter, and his branding manager dropping him due his inability to wear shorts, but Rogier still holds onto hope and determination, something that I admired whilst watching.
Almost poetically, the film ends with this parallel to the film’s opening scene, allowing audiences to come to this feeling of contentment reflecting on all that he has achieved throughout his seven years performing and pursuing his glass musician dreams. Given we all will come face to face with our own mortality, Rogier asks, ‘What if more people did their best to be famous before they died?’ Perhaps it’s not the destination as they say but the journey, not the fame he wanted to achieve but simply that he, no we, ‘did our best.’
Antenna Documentary Film Festival runs in Sydney from 6th-16th February 2025.
Glass – My Unfulfilled Life plays on Friday 7th February at 7:00pm at Ritz Cinemas (#2) and on
Sunday 16th February at 7:30pm at The Ritz Cinema. For tickets and details go here.
