Oct. 17, 2004 - 2:33 pm
so no longer a Tennessee inhabitant, Jill and I are enjoying our new subscription to Netflix out in Colorado. i was browsing through their collection of foreign films and noticed this one. i tried to find it a number of years ago, couldn't, and then promptly forgot about its existence.
this is a Dutch film set around the turn of the 20th century in the slums of Holland. it starts with the murder of an unknown man by the protagonist. we then hear his testimony to the police, which takes us on a huge flashback journey through his life. we learn that the man who died was his father and that he was never actually cared for by his cruel father, but he often encountered him and the events that occurred were usually not too beneficial for him.
Character won the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award and i think it was definitely a solid choice. actually i've never heard of any of the other nominees, but this film is quite wonderful. it's very negative, but at the same time an enthralling and beautiful story. i don't think i laughed or cried at all during this movie, but i couldn't take my eyes off of it either.