Themes: Fathers and Sons, Success is the Best Revenge
Main Cast: Jonathan Maxwell Reeves, Fedja van Huêt, Jan Decleir, Betty Schuurman, Hans Kesting, Victor Löw
Release Year: 1997
Country: NL
Run Time: 125 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
This dark drama from the Netherlands won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Dreverhaven (Jan Decleir), the most ruthless and intimidating bailiff in Rotterdam, is brutally murdered, and a young attorney, Katadreuffe (Fedja Van Huet), is arrested in connection with the crime. Under questioning, the angry young lawyer reveals a hidden motive for the killing -- he is Dreverhaven's illegitimate son. Katadreuffe's mother, Joba (Betty Schuurman) had an affair with Dreverhaven but refused to marry him, preferring to raise her son on her own, despite her difficult economic circumstances. Eventually, Joba takes in a boarder, Jan Maan (Hans Kesting), and Jan becomes something of a father figure to the boy, urging him to improve himself and pursue new opportunities in business. As a young man, Katadreuffe takes Jan's advice to heart and obtains a bank loan to open a cigar shop. The shop soon fails, and Katadreuffe must negotiate terms with the bank to pay off his debt. The young man discovers that the bank is managed by Dreverhaven and learns that his father has no desire to help him. While obtaining legal advice on his problems with the bank, Katadreuffe becomes interested in the study of law, and after a great deal of struggle, he makes his way through law school and obtains a low-level position with a prominent legal firm. However, his father often appears along the way, berating Katadreuffe and convincing him that he's doomed for failure, until the young man becomes convinced that Dreverhaven controls his entire life and wants nothing more than to destroy him. Karakter was based on a novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk that was a major bestseller in the Netherlands. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Combining the dense texture of a Dickens novel with an almost existential outlook on life, Character seems at once a throwback of a story and a very modern tale. It begins with a murder and a police interrogation that easily yields a confession, so the emphasis is on why, not who. The viewer can sense that the victim -- a bull-necked man with penetrating gaze -- may in fact be an evil man, and as the flashback story begins to unfold, that does seem to be the case. But the strength of Character lies in its portrayal of Dreverhaven, brilliantly played by Jan Decleir as a man struggling with his own selfishness and greed. Driven to succeed, his one hope in the world lies in his illegitimate son, whom he pushes mercilessly. That his own son would grow up to be his undoing rather than his salvation is the story's supreme irony. Character is shot in muddy browns and muted grays, color schemes that suggest a world without brightness or hope. It is a grim story, but it's told with an almost exhilarating sense of style and purpose. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
Cast
Fedja van Huêt - Jakob Willem Katadreuffe
Jan Decleir - Dreverhaven
Betty Schuurman - Joba Katadreuffe
Hans Kesting - Jan Maan
Victor Löw - De Gankelaar
Tamar van den Dop - Lorna Te George; Jonathan Maxwell Reeves
Credit
Jelier - Art Director, Schaaf - Art Director, Jeannette Snik - Casting, Jany Temime - Costume Designer, Mike van Diem - Director, Jessica de Koning - Editor, Het Paleis van Boem - Composer (Music Score), Rogier Stoffers - Cinematographer, Laurens Geels - Producer, Alek Goos - Sound/Sound Designer, Laurens Geels - Screenwriter, Mike van Diem - Screenwriter, Ruud van Megen - Screenwriter, Ferdinand Bordewijk - Book Author
In the Netherlands of the 1920s, Dreverhaven (Decleir), a dreaded bailiff, is found dead, with a knife sticking out of his stomach. The obvious suspect is Jacob Willem Katadreuffe (van Huêt), 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 (played by Schuurman), worked as a housekeeper for Dreverhaven. During that time, they had sex only once (it is alluded 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 to marry.
Even as a child, Katadreuffe's path crosses with Dreverhaven, often with dire consequences. When he is arrested for a boyish prank 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 Dreverhaven's bank to purchase a failed cigar store, Dreverhaven sues him to win the money back. Still, Katadreuffe manages to pay back the debt, finding a clerical position in a law firm. He does this even though most of his education is derived from reading an incomplete set of encyclopedias that he happens to find as a boy in his mother's apartment.
After paying back the debt, Katadreuffe implores Dreverhaven to give him a second loan so that he can pass the bar examination. Dreverhaven agrees, on the condition that he can call back the loan at any time. Despite his efforts to hinder his son, Katadreuffe manages to pass the examination. On the afternoon of the murder he storms into Dreverhaven's office to pay the final installment on the loan. A fight ensues, and Katadreuffe attacks Dreverhaven before leaving. All around people see him as he marches out of the office.
At the end of the film, however, the police discover that Katadreuffe left Dreverhaven at 5:00 p.m., while Dreverhaven died at 11:00 p.m. It transpires that Dreverhaven actually committed suicide. At the end of the film, his will is produced, leaving all of his considerable wealth to his son. The will is signed "Vader" (Father).
Themes
The complicated relationship between Katadreuffe and Dreverhaven lies at the center of this film. Viewers are left wondering whether Dreverhaven was really acting in his son's best interest, by being harsh with him, or taking revenge, either on an unwanted child or the boy's mother, who refused to marry him. Unrequited love and blind ambition are among the other themes in this film, as is the difficulty of some characters to express emotions fully and the repercussions that ensue.
Production
Most scenes of the movie were shot in Wrocław, Poland.
