Karakter (1997)

Director:

Mike van Diem

Writers:

Ferdinand Bordewijk (short story "Dreverhaven en Katadreuffe" and novel "Karakter")
Mike van Diem (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Bailiff | Flashback | Court | Police

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 11 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jan Decleir	...	Dreverhaven
Fedja van Huêt	...	Katadreuffe
Betty Schuurman	...	Joba
Tamar van den Dop	...	Lorna Te George
Victor Löw	...	De Gankelaar
Hans Kesting	...	Jan Maan
Lou Landré	...	Rentenstein
Bernard Droog	...	Stroomkoning
Frans Vorstman	...	Inspecteur de Bree
Fred Goessens	...	Schuwagt
Jasper Gottlieb	...	Jacob 6 jaar
Marius Gottlieb	...	Jacob 6 jaar
Pavlik Jansen op de Haar	...	Jacob 12 jaar
Marisa Van Eyle	...	Jiffrouw Sibculo
Wim Van Der Grijn	...	2e Inspecteur

Also Known As:

Character

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Netherlands | Belgium

Language:

Dutch | English | German | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 (video rating) | Netherlands:16 | Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:15 | Australia:MA (2008) | Argentina:16 | Belgium:KT | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

First Floor Features

Trivia:

Last cinema film of Jack Hedley.

Quotes:

Joba: Why don't you leave our boy in peace?
Dreverhaven: I'll strangle him for nine-tenths, and the last tenth will make him strong.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Allemaal film: De amerikaanse droom (#1.6)" (2007)

Stunning Dutch psycho drama

It's no wonder that this Dutch drama got the 1997 Academy Award for the best foreign country movie in the year of "Titanic". It tells the rise-and-fall-story of a young man in the Netherlands of the 1920's who's working hard to escape from the ghetto and to become an idealistic lawyer. Unfortunately his brutal an tyrannic father fights against him in any possible way, and at the end father and son are facing in a hard fight for life and death.

The story is great, the characters (sic!) of the plot even more, and the acting is pure adrenaline-driven. The whole atmosphere, supported by the dark filming locations of Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany (the Speicherstadt in Hamburg) and Poland, is disturbing and depressing. A great psycho drama and insight into the human psyche with a powerful performance by Jan Decleir as villain Dreverhaven that can easily compete with Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter movies!