The Dutch film, KARAKTER (CHARACTER) made in
1997 by Mike Van Diem, won an Oscar for Best Foreign film and
deservedly so. This is a gripping tale which could have been
written by Dickens if Dickens were Kafka. It is the story of
Katadeuffe (Fredja Van Huet) the illegitimate son of Joba (Betty
Shurman) a housekeeper for the brutal Deverhaven (Jan Decleir).
After one sexual encounter with Deverhaven, the pregnant Joba
leaves his employ and rebukes his yearly pleas for marriage,
choosing to raise her son alone and resenting her lot in life to
the extent she barely speaks at all. The boy grows up
experiencing brief encounters with his father, who remains aloof
but keeps track of his son in his capacity as Bailiff of
Rotterdam. Katadeuffe learns to read and speak English which
leads to his employmnet in a bank, which in turn leads to his
meeting the beautiful Lorna (Tamar VanDen Dop). Along the way, he
makes bad business decisions and unknowingly becomes indebted to
his father.
The film tracks Katadeuffe and his attempts to
make a life for himself against crippling odds. His character is
shaped not only by his own efforts but behind the scenes by his
lonely embittered mother and by his emotionally withheld father.
This film is not easy to watch...one becomes drawn into the
struggle of this dysfunctional family and comes to care about
them while being appalled at the same time. The scenes of
Rotterdam are shot in grim grey light and make the city seem
caught in perpetual winter; the only scenes of light are
Katadeuffes encounters with Lorna.
The actors are impressive, with high marks for
Van Huet who bears an uncanny resemblance to Robert Downey Jr.
His liquid eyes betray every pain. Betty Schurman speaks volumes
with her silence and Jan Decleir is the embodiment of the
deadbeat dad with a twisted disinterest bordering on the
pathological. This is no Disney warm-fuzzy, to be sure.
