Marriage is no easy feat, and the first step, finding the right partner, is quite a task. When visiting a family with two sisters of marriageable age, our protagonist Anatole rejoices when he tastes the coffee: whoever made this divine drink must become his wife!
This funny, unidentified advertisement for Nectar Coffee (“Koffie Nectar”) poses the question: what makes a woman the ideal bride? The answer in this case is the quality of her coffee. Still, when Anatole learns that the woman who made the delicious coffee is already married, and that anyone can make the beverage at home, he decides not to get married at all! The message for female audiences? If a woman can make delicious coffee, a(ny) man will choose her. Still, this doesn’t put women in charge of their love life; although they can decide to use this particular brand, they remain reduced to their abilities in the kitchen.
This unromantic conclusion ironically contrasts with the pretty pink colouring of the film, a shade mostly applied for scenes of love and passion. Yet, the film’s only passionate moment is reserved for Marie, the cook, when Anatole barges into the kitchen and unexpectedly kisses her. Marie is also the only proactive female character, and, like the leading lady in Lotte Reiniger’s Das Geheimnis der Marquise, is able to tell the man a female secret: in this case, Nectar Coffee!

Noemi Daugaard, Isabel Krek