Character (film)

Character
US theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike van Diem
Written by	Mike van Diem
Based on	Karakter by Ferdinand Bordewijk
Produced by	Laurens Geels
Starring	Jan Decleir Fedja van Huêt Betty Schuurman Tamar van den Dop Victor Löw Hans Kesting
Cinematography	Rogier Stoffers
Edited by	Jessica de Koning
Music by	Het Paleis van Boem
Production company	First Floor Features
Distributed by	Buena Vista International
Release date	17 April 1997 (1997-04-17)
Running time	122 minutes
Countries	Netherlands Belgium
Language	Dutch
Budget	$4.5 million
Box office	$713,413

Character (Dutch: Karakter) is a 1997 Dutch-Belgian drama film, based on the best-selling novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk and directed by Mike van Diem. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards. The film stars Fedja van Huêt, Jan Decleir, and Betty Schuurman.

Plot

In 1920's Rotterdam, A.B. Dreverhaven, a dreaded bailiff, is found dead, with a knife stuck in his stomach. The obvious suspect is Jacob Willem Katadreuffe, an ambitious young lawyer who worked his way up from poverty, always managing to overcome Dreverhaven's personal attacks against him. Katadreuffe was seen leaving Dreverhaven's office on the afternoon of the murder. He is arrested and taken to police headquarters, where he reflects back on the story of his long relationship with Dreverhaven, who, police learn, is also Katadreuffe's father.

The story begins when Katadreuffe's taciturn mother, Joba, worked as a housekeeper for Dreverhaven. During that time, they had sex only once (it is implied that the encounter was forced upon Joba). She becomes pregnant and leaves her employer to make a living for herself and her son. Time and again, she rejects Dreverhaven's offers by mail of money and marriage.

Even as a child, Katadreuffe finds that his path crosses with Dreverhaven, often with dire consequences. When he is arrested for becoming involved in a boyish theft and tells the police that Dreverhaven is his father, Dreverhaven refuses to recognize him as his son. When, as a young man, he unwittingly takes a loan from a bank that Dreverhaven owns to purchase a failed cigar store, Dreverhaven sues him to win the money back and force him into bankruptcy. Still, Katadreuffe manages to pay back the debt, finding a clerical position in the law firm retained to pursue him for his cigar-store debt. He manages to secure this job, even though most of his education is derived from reading an incomplete English-language encyclopedia that he found as a boy in his mother's apartment; studying this set, he managed to teach himself English, which turns out to be a valuable talent in the eyes of his employers.

After paying back the cigar-store debt, Katadreuffe immediately seeks a second loan from Dreverhaven, so that he can finance his education and legal studies and, ultimately, take and pass the bar examination. Dreverhaven agrees, on the condition that he can call back the loan at any time. Despite the bailiff's efforts to hinder his son, Katadreuffe passes his bar examination and qualifies as a lawyer. On the afternoon when his firm holds a celebration of his becoming a lawyer (the day with which the film begins, the day of the murder), Katadreuffe storms into Dreverhaven's office to confront his lifelong tormentor, the bailiff. Katadreuffe reacts with rage to Dreverhaven's congratulations, and his offer of a handshake, and, though he at first turns to leave, he runs toward Dreverhaven and attempts to attack him. After a bloody and angry brawl, Katadreuffe is witnessed leaving the bailiff's office.

However, the police discover that Katadreuffe left Dreverhaven at 5:00 p.m., though an examination of the bailiff's body reveals that Dreverhaven died at 11:00 p.m. The police finally reveal to Katadreuffe that Dreverhaven actually committed suicide. After Katadreuffe is cleared, a police official hands him a document, left by Dreverhaven's lawyer, that turns out to be the bailiff's will, which leaves all of his considerable wealth to Katadreuffe. The will is signed "Vader" (Father).

Cast

• Jan Decleir as A.B. Dreverhaven
• Fedja van Huêt as Jacob Willem Katadreuffe
• Betty Schuurman as Joba
• Tamar van den Dop as Lorna Te George
• Victor Löw as De Gankelaar
• Hans Kesting as Jan Maan
• Lou Landré as Rentenstein
• Bernhard Droog as Stroomkoning
• Frans Vorstman as Inspecteur de Bree
• Fred Goessens as Schuwagt

Production

Most scenes of the film were shot in Wrocław, Poland.

Reception

Character has an approval rating of 92% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 25 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10.

See also

• List of submissions to the 70th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Dutch submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• Karakter at IMDb
• ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Character at AllMovie
• broken review (albany.edu)
• broken`(13/10/2010) review (iofilm.co.uk)