Logline
Bertus (18) wants to become a Germanic artist but is employed in the German war industry. He shares his ideal of a new community with his girlfriend Tiny (17). They write letters to each other every week. While Tiny falls in love with a Jewish pianist in Amsterdam, the adventure takes a dangerous turn for Bertus.
Jun 23
Hey, Little Blue
The feature film Hey, little Blue is a fictional biography about the war years of the passionate Dutch poet and visual artist Lucebert, who lived from 1924 to 1994.
Synopsis
It is 1943 when BERTUS (18), the later Lucebert, on the advice of his ex-colleague and girlfriend TINY (17) does not go into hiding for compulsory labor in the war industry of Nazi Germany. Bertus is an idealistic war adolescent who wants to become a Germanic, God-gifted artist, and poet. With Tiny he shares his love for German literature and culture and his ideal of a new human in a new community, but she stays in Amsterdam. Bertus and Tiny write each other letters almost weekly. In Germany, Bertus ends up in Apollensdorf, located in the beautiful landscape of the river Elbe. He initially experiences this place as a paradise with many cultural facilities. Bertus likes to roam the world, but soon finds himself stuck in a boring office job.
In Amsterdam, Tiny flirts with a twenty-year-old Jewish pianist Mr. FRITMAN. He turns out to be a real music artist who can devote all his time to composing. Tiny admires him boundlessly, which keeps their friendship unequal. Fritman is her great example when she encourages Bertus to follow his own path in a letter. Bertus is inspired by this and wants to paint outside along the De Elbe in his free time. But the regime demands heavy maintenance work on the roof of his apartment, which he shares with twelve other Dutch workers. His ambition is therefore running short of reality for the time being. A major setback. Then he meets workwoman ANNELIESE (18), the beautiful and petite daughter of a violin maker from Breslau, with whom he falls in love. However, she appears to have a heart condition and does not want a relationship. Bertus is not sure why, but just as suddenly Anneliese disappears from his life again and she is unreachable for him. His love for her remains decisive in the imagination of his work (1). Meanwhile, Tiny in Amsterdam is going through an emotional turnaround; through her contact with Fritman, who organizes clandestine house concerts, she develops a sympathy for Judaism, hidden from her father. Tiny falls in love with Fritman, but he is married, and his wife is a writer whose books Tiny reads with amazement, so rich in Jewish culture. In a letter writes Tiny extremely open about her love and admiration for the Fritman family. Subsequently, Bertus becomes aware that there is no trace of Germanic culture on the factory grounds, while he often hears Jewish and Sinti music from the neighboring camp of detainees that stirs his feelings. It leads him to show the Nazis that he is not a soldier but an artist. The next day he turns the shipping department into his studio by setting up the drilled wooden blocks, which he routinely had to pack with the detonators, in the form of still lifes. But a new strict chief has been appointed and as punishment he has to work with a life-threatening toxic substance in a bunker. This work is unbearably hard for Bertus and his companions try to get him to be rejected. A week later he gets a golden opportunity, the SD'er Aue - who has been appointed to improve the working conditions of the detainees in the war industry - stands up for him, he can become a student of the Hermann-Göring-Meisterschule für Malerei. He is delighted and immediately leaves. At the Meisterschule, however, Bertus' talent does not match the prevailing culture. There is no room for self-expression, this is even strictly forbidden. Bertus feels slighted and cannot be trained like a dog. Tiny, who has lost contact with the refugee Fritman, is proud with her parents of Bertus' painting talent and urges him to persevere. Then one evening his roommate Klemens discovers the drawings and poems to the girl Anneliese, which Bertus makes in secret. He is betrayed and immediately transferred to a Waffen-SS army camp. There, Bertus barely manages to escape to begin his long-awaited ramble. This is the spark to his artistry.
1) A few years after the war, Lucebert brings her to life in an epic poem “Apollensdorfse Elegie” which he read to prominent poets but did not publish.
Synopsis
It is 1943 when BERTUS (18), the later Lucebert, on the advice of his ex-colleague and girlfriend TINY (17) does not go into hiding for compulsory labor in the war industry of Nazi Germany. Bertus is an idealistic war adolescent who wants to become a Germanic, God-gifted artist, and poet. With Tiny he shares his love for German literature and culture and his ideal of a new human in a new community, but she stays in Amsterdam. Bertus and Tiny write each other letters almost weekly. In Germany, Bertus ends up in Apollensdorf, located in the beautiful landscape of the river Elbe. He initially experiences this place as a paradise with many cultural facilities. Bertus likes to roam the world, but soon finds himself stuck in a boring office job.
In Amsterdam, Tiny flirts with a twenty-year-old Jewish pianist Mr. FRITMAN. He turns out to be a real music artist who can devote all his time to composing. Tiny admires him boundlessly, which keeps their friendship unequal. Fritman is her great example when she encourages Bertus to follow his own path in a letter. Bertus is inspired by this and wants to paint outside along the De Elbe in his free time. But the regime demands heavy maintenance work on the roof of his apartment, which he shares with twelve other Dutch workers. His ambition is therefore running short of reality for the time being. A major setback. Then he meets workwoman ANNELIESE (18), the beautiful and petite daughter of a violin maker from Breslau, with whom he falls in love. However, she appears to have a heart condition and does not want a relationship. Bertus is not sure why, but just as suddenly Anneliese disappears from his life again and she is unreachable for him. His love for her remains decisive in the imagination of his work (1). Meanwhile, Tiny in Amsterdam is going through an emotional turnaround; through her contact with Fritman, who organizes clandestine house concerts, she develops a sympathy for Judaism, hidden from her father. Tiny falls in love with Fritman, but he is married, and his wife is a writer whose books Tiny reads with amazement, so rich in Jewish culture. In a letter writes Tiny extremely open about her love and admiration for the Fritman family. Subsequently, Bertus becomes aware that there is no trace of Germanic culture on the factory grounds, while he often hears Jewish and Sinti music from the neighboring camp of detainees that stirs his feelings. It leads him to show the Nazis that he is not a soldier but an artist. The next day he turns the shipping department into his studio by setting up the drilled wooden blocks, which he routinely had to pack with the detonators, in the form of still lifes. But a new strict chief has been appointed and as punishment he has to work with a life-threatening toxic substance in a bunker. This work is unbearably hard for Bertus and his companions try to get him to be rejected. A week later he gets a golden opportunity, the SD'er Aue - who has been appointed to improve the working conditions of the detainees in the war industry - stands up for him, he can become a student of the Hermann-Göring-Meisterschule für Malerei. He is delighted and immediately leaves. At the Meisterschule, however, Bertus' talent does not match the prevailing culture. There is no room for self-expression, this is even strictly forbidden. Bertus feels slighted and cannot be trained like a dog. Tiny, who has lost contact with the refugee Fritman, is proud with her parents of Bertus' painting talent and urges him to persevere. Then one evening his roommate Klemens discovers the drawings and poems to the girl Anneliese, which Bertus makes in secret. He is betrayed and immediately transferred to a Waffen-SS army camp. There, Bertus barely manages to escape to begin his long-awaited ramble. This is the spark to his artistry.
1) A few years after the war, Lucebert brings her to life in an epic poem “Apollensdorfse Elegie” which he read to prominent poets but did not publish.