Character

Rating:
Summary: A Sublime Story!
Review: Character is a story told in flashbacks as the young lawyer, Jacob Katadreuffe, is taken in by the police after the death of a man. It seems like Jacob has committed the murder and the police listen to his story in order to find a motive for the murder. However, Jacob tells the story in order to prove his innocence. The narrative begins from Jacob's birth until the present time where the audience is provided with opportunity to follow the development of Jacob's character and his quest for self-actualization. Occasionally, the story is interrupted by questions from the police, however, these interruptions offer moments of reflection and transition between the acts in a very clever manner. In the end, the audience experiences a sublime story through an investigation of Jacob's disposition, which leaves room for self-reflection on the fabric of our own nature.

Rating:
Summary: A Supercharged Drama
Review: CHARACTER is all about tough love. Extremely tough. It is about family. In this instance, an extremely distant pair of parents and a young man seeking his identlty. It's also about great psychological drama, superior period design and unbelievably assured freshman filmmaking from director Mike Van Diem. It's also, as the title implies, about "building character." The father, Dreverhaven, has some unusual character building techniques, to put it mildly. He at one point tells the young man's mother that he will strangle 9/10s of the life out of son Jacob, but the remaining 1/10ths will make him strong. And just for good measure, he may take the last tenth as welll.

Jan Decleir, as Dreverhaven, is a revelation. He's built like Gerard Depardieu and is even more preposessing than that fine actor on screen. He would make a great Javert or Lear in some future production. Victor Löw, as Jacob's mentor and elder friend, De Gankeelar, is unlike anyone you will have seen on screen or stage. With an impossibly jutting jaw and unique mode of speech, he is the ultimate character actor. The entire cast is splendid. I'm not at all familiar with Dutch Cinema, and am not even entirely sure the term isn't an oxymoron. This film, however, can stand beside anything in contemporary cinema. Now I just have to dig up the novel by Ferdinand Borewijk, from which the movie was adapted. It's such a compelling story that I'm sure the novel will be excellent, as well.

Five Stars and counting.

BEK

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Acted
Review: I came across this masterpiece by accident, but from the start of the film I was thoroughly engrossed in what turned out to be a classic film about human nature. More movies of this ilk should be made, as it was entertaining, while being completely believable.

This is a movie that I will purchase and watch over and over again. Bravo to the directors and actors, who made this little-known film so superb! Although this movie contains some violence, it certainly is appropriate for teenagers.

Rating:
Summary: Classic European Cinema
Review: I was channel hopping late one night and came across this movie just as the opening credits were being shown. I decided to give it a minute or two before changing to the next channel but ended up never letting my eyes leave the screen. Excellent story line, excellent characters and superb acting in all respects! I'm not a big fan of subtitles, but this movie is worth the time! Don't miss this, especially if you enjoy truly good drama!

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking and Extraordinary
Review: It was ironic that "Character" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film the same year that "Titanic" won for Best Picture. "Character" makes "Titanic" look like a grade-school production of "Gilligan's Island." One of the most powerful films I've ever seen, it was painful and difficult to watch, and absolutely brilliant. With not a false note anywhere, the epic scope of the story, the acting and the cinematography drew me in and broke my heart. Not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: A character united against itself....
Review: It's unclear who "Character" - which otherwise tells the story of a luckless man locked in battle with his biological father - refers to. Set in Europe after the first world war, "Character" presents us with a fearsome figure: Arend Dreverhaven (Jan Declair), the local "Bailiff". In uncertain times, when nobody can be sure how long they'll have a job or a roof over their head, Dreverhaven fearlessly and contemptuously wields his power to divest whole communities of both. Physically large, he can stare down whole battalions of armed communists single-handedly, or jump into the sea to re-possess a ship. (In a chilling dream sequence, he evicts an entire building's tenants wearing no more than his bailiff's medal.) In a lesser film, Dreveraven would be easy to dismiss as a coward, cloaking his weakness behind the power of the office, but "Character" goes a braver route - Dreverhaven has his fears, but he's still the power behind the position. He's driven to possess the one thing he can't get - the love of Joba, his former housekeeper and the one woman who slept with him. Though the script is murky on whether Joba consented to their coupling, she makes it crystal clear that she wants nothing to do with him - whether for herself or their "son". Proving she's as strong willed as Dreverhaven, she coldly rebuffs his efforts to control or support them, especially the pathological way he repeatedly proposes to her over the years - even as the two enter the inescapable redoubt of old age. Not taking "no" for answer very well, Dreverhaven wages a war against Jacob Willem, the illegitimate son who will rise into respectable manhood by dint of serious labor.

Though already having the world against him, (poverty and bastardy are bad enough alone) Jacob finds himself under the gun. Dreverhaven buys up Jacob's debts, hounding the boy into poverty. Jacob rises to the occasion - he defeats Dreverhaven in bankruptcy court, twice. He even nabs a job as a clerk in the town's house of finance, a move with potential for a respectable and lucrative future, light years away from the wretched existence into which he was born. Unfortunately, Willem too is driven by fear and hatred of the old man - having just redeemed his last debts to Dreverhaven, he boldly incurs a new one, relishing the chance to beat the old man again. He also confuses success with happiness, discarding a pretty fellow worker whose affections offer him nothing in his private war. Dreverhaven's motives are unclear - though the script ingeniously works this dilemma into the story. Dreverhaven boldly tells Joba that he'll strangle his son for nine-tenths to make a man out of him, since that's the only way he can legitimize Jacob Willem as his son. He obviously wants Joba, but only if he can make their boy into a mirror image of himself. When Joba rebuffs him one last time, however, he decides it's time to go after that last 10th. Unfortunately, for both our heroes and the story, Joba soon dies, a move that robs the story of its emotional force and complexity, and boils it down to a clash of wills in which both characters go after that last bit of their lives left un-strangled. It's no surprise who survives the other - the script is based on Jacob's "confession" to the police after the old man is found dead in the solitary gloom of his office, after a fight Jacob admits the two had.

While serious film lovers see it as an alternative to Hollywood sludge (another reviewer wrote that, I didn't make it up), the film's theme of "father v. son" is pure Hollywood. The script's sub-text of an evil-elder figure who elevates a younger hero by making his life hell was already old when Willem Defoe used it in "Spiderman". (James Earle Jones used it against Mark Hamill in the "Star Wars" movies and against Schwarzennegar in the first "Conan" flick - and that was over 20 years ago!) Also, the film's obviously high production values means it will never be a favorite with the Dogme set. That said, "Character" gives us the timeless Oedipal battle with less than heroic figures. When Jacob's mother coolly condemns him for missing out on a chance for love, it sounds mean, but we all know she's right. Fedja van Huet plays Jacob as terrified but resolute against the bailiff, looking strangely like Robert Downey Jr. would if he starred in "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". Declair however, is a monster as Dreverhaven, even when his motives seem good, and he rules this flick. Character is incomplete, and yet unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: A character united against itself....
Review: It's unclear who "Character" - which otherwise tells the story of a luckless man locked in battle with his biological father - refers to. Set in Europe after the first world war, "Character" presents us with a fearsome figure: Arend Dreverhaven (Jan Declair), the local "Bailiff". In uncertain times, when nobody can be sure how long they'll have a job or a roof over their head, Dreverhaven fearlessly and contemptuously wields his power to divest whole communities of both. Physically large, he can stare down whole battalions of armed communists single-handedly, or jump into the sea to re-possess a ship. (In a chilling dream sequence, he evicts an entire building's tenants wearing no more than his bailiff's medal.) In a lesser film, Dreveraven would be easy to dismiss as a coward, cloaking his weakness behind the power of the office, but "Character" goes a braver route - Dreverhaven has his fears, but he's still the power behind the position. He's driven to possess the one thing he can't get - the love of Joba, his former housekeeper and the one woman who slept with him. Though the script is murky on whether Joba consented to their coupling, she makes it crystal clear that she wants nothing to do with him - whether for herself or their "son". Proving she's as strong willed as Dreverhaven, she coldly rebuffs his efforts to control or support them, especially the pathological way he repeatedly proposes to her over the years - even as the two enter the inescapable redoubt of old age. Not taking "no" for answer very well, Dreverhaven wages a war against Jacob Willem, the illegitimate son who will rise into respectable manhood by dint of serious labor.

Though already having the world against him, (poverty and bastardy are bad enough alone) Jacob finds himself under the gun. Dreverhaven buys up Jacob's debts, hounding the boy into poverty. Jacob rises to the occasion - he defeats Dreverhaven in bankruptcy court, twice. He even nabs a job as a clerk in the town's house of finance, a move with potential for a respectable and lucrative future, light years away from the wretched existence into which he was born. Unfortunately, Willem too is driven by fear and hatred of the old man - having just redeemed his last debts to Dreverhaven, he boldly incurs a new one, relishing the chance to beat the old man again. He also confuses success with happiness, discarding a pretty fellow worker whose affections offer him nothing in his private war. Dreverhaven's motives are unclear - though the script ingeniously works this dilemma into the story. Dreverhaven boldly tells Joba that he'll strangle his son for nine-tenths to make a man out of him, since that's the only way he can legitimize Jacob Willem as his son. He obviously wants Joba, but only if he can make their boy into a mirror image of himself. When Joba rebuffs him one last time, however, he decides it's time to go after that last 10th. Unfortunately, for both our heroes and the story, Joba soon dies, a move that robs the story of its emotional force and complexity, and boils it down to a clash of wills in which both characters go after that last bit of their lives left un-strangled. It's no surprise who survives the other - the script is based on Jacob's "confession" to the police after the old man is found dead in the solitary gloom of his office, after a fight Jacob admits the two had.

While serious film lovers see it as an alternative to Hollywood sludge (another reviewer wrote that, I didn't make it up), the film's theme of "father v. son" is pure Hollywood. The script's sub-text of an evil-elder figure who elevates a younger hero by making his life hell was already old when Willem Defoe used it in "Spiderman". (James Earle Jones used it against Mark Hamill in the "Star Wars" movies and against Schwarzennegar in the first "Conan" flick - and that was over 20 years ago!) Also, the film's obviously high production values means it will never be a favorite with the Dogme set. That said, "Character" gives us the timeless Oedipal battle with less than heroic figures. When Jacob's mother coolly condemns him for missing out on a chance for love, it sounds mean, but we all know she's right. Fedja van Huet plays Jacob as terrified but resolute against the bailiff, looking strangely like Robert Downey Jr. would if he starred in "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". Declair however, is a monster as Dreverhaven, even when his motives seem good, and he rules this flick. Character is incomplete, and yet unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Best film I've seen
Review: This film is probably the best movie I've ever seen in my life. The direction is impeccable as well as the acting. The art direction is also fabulous.

Rating:
Summary: Consider this film as one the ten best of the nineties!
Review: This film throws again to the ring to Neetherlands in the rank of great directors. This film deserved The best foreign film in 1997 ; but its inner values are far beyond this prize.
Imagine what the film talks about ; you must fight not onlñy with the elusive and challenging fate that day after day wait for us when we leave from home . Our main character has to prove to his own father he's a winner ; against all the obstacles he finds in the road.
His father is a hated human being ; a man without a bit of scruples. Since he was a child , was forced to fight , and always followed his bliss .
This film represents not only a personal challenge but also a life experience ; a no mercy story that disturbs the viewer .
The performances without exception are of first rate ; (loaded with the same essence we remind of that ancient concept from Italy in the forties titled neo realism - De Sica ,Roselini - , that really had its origen with Tony from Jean Renoir in 1934), but with a very twisted difference ; his epic commitment instead the bitter and hopeless endings , typical of those ancient classical films (Germanny anno zero , Roma cittä aperta, Paisa , The bycicles'thief and Umberto D) .
Mike van Diem made a unique film ; a jewel of countless carats. And to me , one of the one hundred best films in any age!
A must in you private collection!

Rating:
Summary: Dark, but illuminating
Review: Without attempting to recount or even summarize the plot of CHARACTER, let me simply say that it is a stunning work of art. The acting is arresting and utterly convincing. Each character represents heartbreak and tragedy. Even the cold, hard father, Dreverhaven (brilliantly played by Jan Declier) is revealed to have a human side...albeit a terribly flawed and scarred humanity. There is tremendous pathos in the final scenes between Dreverhaven and his son, Katadreuffe (the amazing Fedja van Huet). Even as Katadreuffe explodes in violence and rage, the sorrow and sense of loss is powerfully palpable. Van Diem's direction is flawless. He allows the actors to say so much without using many words. The slow, steady pace allows the plot to simmer before reaching a boil. The longing between Katadreuffe and his lovely co-worker is incredibly heartrending. Katadreuffe's complex relationships with his mother and his mentor are also quite striking. Van Diem gets the most out of very simple gestures...a look, a smile, a touch...perhaps the most dramatic and emotional moment in the film is when Dreverhaven extends his hand to Katadreuffe or when he later whispers, "Help me, Jacob." Reviewers have invoked Kafka, Dickens, Shakespeare, and Oedipus in attempting to describe this film. All of those apply, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that this film belongs in the worthy company of those great stories. (Let me say that the father-son relationship here reminds me in a strange way of a certain famous Johnny Cash song, though I will let you guess which one.) CHARACTER is not a good "popcorn movie," or even really a good "date movie." But it is a great film; the emotions unleashed and the questions raised will stay with the viewer long after the credits have rolled.