An eye blinks close to the camera lens. This is followed by the image of an ear. Someone tastes food, another uses his nose, looking for a specific smell. A couple of massaging hands work bare skin. The film follows people who use their senses to get an idea or a sensation. The composer utilises his hearing to draw inspiration from everyday sounds. A passionate cook tastes his dishes until he is satisfied. A 'corpse sniffer' deploys his keen sense of smell to locate missing victims of criminal acts. The astronomer uses strong lenses to search the star system for new elements, while a blind man threads his way through traffic. Chaotic city noises accompany an image of what he can barely see. His tactile sense is miraculously strong. The occasional voice-over complements this ingeniously edited exploration of sensory perceptions.
Kiet Engels is the kind of teacher one wishes every schoolchild could have. She is strict but never harsh. She is loving but never soft. Her patience in endless. Miss Kiet’s pupils have only just arrived in Holland. Many are refugees. Everything is new and confusing. Some at first are quarrelsome and headstrong. But Miss Kiet’s firm but loving hand brings calm and awakens interest. She not only teaches her pupils to read and write Dutch, but also helps them learn to solve problems together and respect one another. Slowly the children gain skills and confidence.
As a voice reads letters from a father to his daughter off camera, 20th century archival images from the Netherlands are shown. Fiona Tan touchingly explores what potential emerges when sound and image diverge.
If We Knew is a documentary about paediatricians in an intensive-care unit for newborns. A film about the compassion needed to heal the sick and occasionally needed to hasten the death of a child.
