A key feature of cinema is that it can show us a part of history that contradicts our stereotypes - positive or negative - about a place or people. Mike van Diem's "Character" is one such movie. We think of the Netherlands as one of the most pristine and wholesome countries in the world. Well it appears that this was not always the case.This adaptation of Ferdinand Bordewijk's novel focuses on Jacob, a man who has had to struggle all his life to get by. The son of a bailiff's housekeeper, Jacob (the product of an apparent rape) spends his life getting bullied every step of the way, while the bailiff refuses to acknowledge him. Indeed, the bailiff makes Jacob's life miserable every step of the way. There are also scenes showing the police raiding workers' rallies (admit it: you thought that sort of thing never happened in the Netherlands).At once a study of an individual's travails and also a look at damaged relationships (as well as the unseemly side of Dutch history), van Diem's movie is an outstanding piece of work. With complex characters and true-to-life gritty settings, it's a movie that you have to see. It definitely deserved its Oscar win. I wholly recommend it.

Jacob Katadreuffe lives mute with his mother, has no contact with his father who only works against him and wants to become a lawyer, at all costs.This was the Netherlands' entry into the Academy Awards, and they just so happened to win. I could go back and check who the opposition was, but I feel pretty confident that this was well-deserved. The movie looks great, the plot is thrilling and the characters engaging.Admittedly, I have a very limited knowledge of Dutch film (have I even seen five?) but I know a good film when I see one. And this has the intrigue of a good American gangster film without the history and cliché trapping it, weighing it down.

"Karakter" is an awesome movie with an ingenious plot. During the film you end up repeatedly wondering why certain characters behave the way they do, and with the help of marvelous actors (especially Jan Decleir/Dreverhaven), the resolutions always surprise you and leave you pondering. The magnificent cinematography deserves a praise, too, and despite the prolonged chess-game quality of the battle between Jacob Katadreuffe and his father, everything that happens regarding this has a curious thriller aspect to it.Victor Löw's appearance as De Gankelaar is very impressive (perhaps in some ways comparable to Brando's Don Corleone in the Godfather, although these characters are not alike). Also the ethereal beauty (in my opinion) of Tamar van den Dop as Lorna te George didn't hurt my enjoyment of this film at all.Altogether, don't miss "Karakter" if you ever have a chance to watch it!

Watching this sludgy, portentous tripe was torture. Any relation between these characters and real human beings is purely coincidental. Example: the main character is supposedly in love with a woman who works in the office, though he's been too shy to do anything about it. At the beach with friends, he meets her by chance. She invites him to her cabana, where, shockingly, there's another man, never seen before. She introduces them. Lover boy is so angry he leaves, and then won't speak to her at the office. He never asks about the other man, she never tells him anything, and the other man is never seen again. Later she marries someone else. His mother says, "you let her get away, you're an ass." Best line in the film.The film at least sparked a good discussion afterwards. We came to see that it's a pro-capitalist, or anti-welfare state, allegory. Both the father and the mother, in their ways, torment the son, and in the end we learn it was all done out of love, tough love: to make him tough. Only then can he inherit the money. The father is a monstrously unbending bailiff, charged with defending property rights by repossession and eviction of those deadbeat lower classes. The kid shows grit and ambition by pursuing legal studies and paying off all his debts. One slight softening: he learns, one time, to accept a gift. Otherwise it's straight Ayn Rand: capitalism is tough to keep society tough. Rely on yourself, don't get soft, climb the ladder and pay your debts, and you'll reap your reward.The style is copied from Steven Spielberg. Same kinds of shots, rhythm, shoving the obvious in your face, lack of interest in real character. Standard Hollywood period piece photography: subdued hazy brown-gray-blue. Excuse me, I have to run to the video store to rent an Eric Rohmer.