Main Cast: Laura Fraser, Isabella Rossellini, Maximilian Schell, Jeroen Krabbé, Marianne Sägebrecht
Release Year: 1998
Country: NL/BE/US
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Actor Jeroen Krabbe made his directorial debut with this Dutch-Belgian-U.S. drama examining anti-Semitic attitudes in 1972 Antwerp. Free-spirited 20-year-old student Chaja (Laura Fraser) has a long-haired revolutionary lover and sometimes visits her parents (Maximilian Schell, Marianne Sagebrecht), both concentration camp survivors. Evading eviction from her apartment, Chaja finds work as a nanny with the Kalmans, an Orthodox Hassidic family. Initially rebelling against the rigid traditions, she eventually comes to terms with their way of life as she teaches their four-year-old to follow his father's doctrines. Adapted from Carl Friedman's novel The Shovel and the Loom, this film was shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
This 1998 production has a worthy story line: A young woman of the emancipated '70s spurns her Jewish background, but gets caught up in it anyway. Unfortunately, the film resorts to contrivance and melodrama to support the theme of her reconciliation with her identity. The central character is a philosophy student named Chaya Silberschmidt (Laura Fraser), the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She is thoughtful and loving. But her modern outlook -- she hangs out with Gentiles and swims in the nude -- cannot abide the impedimenta of Jewish customs, traditions, and, in the case of her father (Maximilian Schell), a preoccupation with the past. Particularly annoying to her is his search for a suitcase containing old photographs and other mementos. He buried it in Antwerp during World War II (where, he cannot remember) while attempting to escape the Nazis. To find his past, Mr. Silberschmidt digs holes all over Antwerp, literally unearthing his roots. Meanwhile, Chaya becomes a nanny for children of joyless Hasidic Jews. The father, Mr. Kalman (Jeroen Krabbé), is so severe of aspect that his youngest boy, four-year-old Simcha, is afraid to talk and pees his pants at the sight of his domineering father. Chaya makes up with Simcha, gets him to talk, and discovers that Hasidic Jews are human, too -- thanks to kindly Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rosselini). Meanwhile, as Schell continues to dig, a token anti-Semite rules the lobby of the apartment building where Simcha and his family live. He is so bigoted and crabby that he tries to close an elevator door on Simcha's hand. Apparently, he is meant to warn viewers that there are plenty of Jew-haters left over from the Holocaust days. The film climaxes in a tragedy that spills tears and sends Chaya into a hole shoveling dirt alongside her father. A bright spot in this film is the superb acting. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
David Bradley - Concierge; Adam Monty - Simcha; Chaim Topol - Mr. Apfelschnitt; Miriam Margolyes - Mrs. Goldman; Lex Goudsmith - Mr. Goldman; Benjamin Broekaert - Dov; Ben Glanz - Avrom; Heather Weeks - Sofie
Credit
Jeroen Krabbé - Associate Producer, Edwin de Vries - Associate Producer, Maria Peters - Associate Producer, Susie Figgis - Casting, Dirk Impens - Co-producer, Rudy Verzyck - Co-producer, Yan Tax - Costume Designer, Bernadette Corstens - Costume Designer, Marc van der Bijl - First Assistant Director, Jeroen Krabbé - Director, Edgar Burcksen - Editor, Brad Wilson - Executive Producer, Craig Haffner - Executive Producer, Hennie Vrienten - Composer (Music Score), Hemmo Sportel - Production Designer, Walther van den Ende - Cinematographer, Ate de Jong - Producer, Hans Pos - Producer, Dave Schram - Producer, Leo Franssen - Sound/Sound Designer, Edwin de Vries - Screenwriter, Carl Friedman - Book Author
While escaping from Nazis during WWII, a Jewish man buries two suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the suitcases, an obsessive compulsion. He keeps checking old maps and keeps digging, trying to find what he lost. His daughter Chaya is a beautiful modern girl looking for a part-time job. She finds a place as a nanny in the strictly observant hassidic family with many children, although her secular manners clearly fly in the face of their beliefs. One of the reasons she is accepted is that mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the household, so Chaya stays despite the resistance of the father, who is normally an indisputable authority in the family.
She develops a special bond with the youngest of the boys, four-year old Simcha, who seems incapable of speaking. She encourages him to speak while walking in the park, and it appears that, after some coaching from Chaya (who needs coaching herself) during the upcoming PassoverSeder, Simcha will be able to chant the section of the Haggadah usually reserved for the youngest speaking participant - the Four Questions.
At first, Simcha's nerves prevent him from chanting, and his brothers begin to chant instead. Simcha finally lifts his voice. The entire family, including Chaya, applauds his efforts, but his judgemental father does not recognize this great step, but instead criticizes the boy for a mistake. Chaya confronts the father, and in the process, discovers his own pain as a Holocaust survivor, and begins to understand her own parents' grief.
The anti-Semitic superintendent of the building is a constant problem for the entire family and now for Chaya. However, as opposed to the observant Jews, she refuses to be a victim and does not put up with his anti-Semitic tricks. She fights him, thus exciting the children's admiration and father's wrath.
Unfortunately, walks with Simcha end in a tragedy: after sneaking to the park, he drowns in the pond, while chasing the ducks he loved so much. Some in the community hold Chaya responsible for his death. However, in a scene where Chaya goes to the family's mourning service, the mother feels compassion for Chaya and realizes that Chaya felt a deep connection with Simcha. As an act of acceptance, his mother rips Chaya's shirt, which is a sign of a mourner (a sibling, parent, child or spouse of the deceased) in Jewish tradition.
The boy's father finally, albeit silently, acknowledges Chaya's connection with Simcha when she observes the graveside service.
Chaya's experience allows her to finally accept her parents' past, and to embrace her own Jewishness.
The film is a commentary not only on external (gentile) anti-Semitism, but also on the lack of connection and self-acceptance of assimilated Jews.
