# Karakter (1997)

### reviewed by
James Sanford

"Character," this year's Oscar-winner for Best Foriegn-Language Film, could almost be the Dutch answer to "Les Miserables." It can't be sheer coincidence that loaves of stolen bread are what set in motion the tragic power struggle between Jacob Katadreuffe (Fedja van Huet), an ambitious law officer worker, and his secret father, a merciless court bailiff named A.B. Dreverhaven (Jan Decleir). Twenty years earlier, Dreverhaven seduced his housekeeper Joba (Betty Shuurman), an eerily silent young woman, and the one-time tryst resulted in Joba's pregnancy. Though Dreverhaven offered both marriage and money, Joba coldly refused to have any further contact with him, choosing to weather the insults of her neighbors rather than wed a man so callous he evicts destitute people -- even the sick -- from his properties without a second thought. Jacob grows up trying his best to keep his distance from Dreverhaven, only to be drawn directly into his father's power when he unknowingly borrows a sizable amount of money from Dreverhaven's bank. That major mistake will come back to haunt the youth again and again as he tries to build a decent life for himself in depressed 1920s Rotterdam. It seems every time Jacob is on the verge of getting ahead, Dreverhaven turns up to knock him back down. Adapted by screenwriter-director Mike Van Diem from the 1938 Dutch novel of the same name by Ferdinand Bordewijk, "Character" is relentlessly grim, two hours spent with a handful of miserable, monochromatic people, all of whom are either unable or unwilling to reach out to one another. That said, the movie is also extremely well-made, with much attention paid to period detail and, since the actors are often non-verbal, to the subtleties of its performances. First-time director Van Diem has bathed the picture in a gorgeous gloss that complements the script's melodramatic aspects; rain, shadows, fog and murky streetlights are all used to great effect. Jacob's fight to get out from under Dreverhaven's thumb is compelling, but many viewers will find themselves wishing Van Diem had spent a bit more time with some of the less angst-ridden figures in the story, such as Lorna Te George (Tamar van den Dop), the co-worker who catches Jacob's eye, or Joba's boarder, a fledgling Communist named Jan Maan (Hans Kesting) who resents his snobby family. Though "Character" is fine for what it is, a little levity would have made the gloomy atmosphere slightly less oppressive. James Sanford

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