Verstekeling, De (1997)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Ben van Lieshout

Writers:

Bert Bisperink (writer)
Ben van Lieshout (writer)

Release Date:

16 April 1998 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Orazbaj, son of an unemployed Uzbekistan fisherman, is a stowaway on a ship towards New York. Stranded in Rotterdam...

Plot Keywords:

Refugee

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Bekzod Mukhammadkarimov	...	Orazbai (as Bekhzod Mukhamedkarimov)
Ariane Schluter	...	Katharina
Rick van Gastel	...	Maarten
Dirk Roofthooft	...	Zeeman
Sjamoerat Oetemratov	...	Vader
Culnar Aidzjanava	...	Aydin
Karamat Primbetov	...	Iso
Leda Elueva	...	Bibigul
Roef Ragas	...	Collega zeeman
Ad van Kempen	...	Kapitein
Hans Magnus	...	Vreemdelingenpolitie
Ruurt de Maesschalck	...	Vreemdelingenpolitie
Hans Hausdörfer	...	Havenpolitie
Tjerk Risselada	...	Werfarbeider
Stef van der Eijnden	...	Rozenkweker

Also Known As:

The Stowaway (USA)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Netherlands | Uzbekistan

Language:

Dutch | Uzbek

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Filming Locations:

Muynak, Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan

Company:

Egmond Film & Television

A movie about different ways of being happy

The movie is about how to escape the poverty or memories. Orazbaj is a young Uzbeki man sick of his lifestyle fulfilled with dust and with his father's memories, living in an Uzbeki village. There was water there sometimes and his father was too one of the fishermen, but now his ship is grotesquely anchored in the desert. Anyway, father's dream about sailing is more alive then ever. One day, Orazbaj decides to leave the country and he arrives illegally in Holland. He takes advantage of one sailor goodness and escapes in the city, with no direction. The fact is that he will be protected and hidden by the sailor's wife. The friendship between him and Maarten, her child, is one of the most beautiful parts, but the sailor, jealous of the new menage-a-trois status quo decides to call the police and Orazbaj is sent back to Uzbekistan, keeping Maarten and his mother, Katharina, in his mind. The movie ends by the metaphor of his brother's marriage, linking the past to the future. In the middle of the wedding, Orazbaj gets out and sees Maarten and Katharina as a "fata morgana", but when he comes back, a woman that likes him asks: "Now that you know how the others live, what's the use of it?"

"De Verstekeling" is a movie about different lifestyles and about different ways to find and value happiness.