Kalman's secret
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Kalman's secret |
| Original title | Left luggage |
| Country of production |
Netherlands Belgium |
| original language |
English Hebrew Yiddish |
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jeroen Krabbe |
| script |
Edwin de Vries Carl Friedman (book) |
| production | Edwin de Vries Craig Haffner |
| music | Keith Allison Henny Vrienten |
| camera | Walther van den Ende |
| cut | Edgar Burcksen |
| occupation | |
| |
Kalman's Secret ( Left Luggage ) is the directorial debut of the Dutch actor and director Jeroen Krabbé and was premiered at the 48th Berlinale in February 1998 as a competition entry under the original title “Left Luggage”.
The feature film is based on the autobiographical novel “Twee Koffers Vol” ( Two suitcases full ) by the Dutch author Carl Friedman : “'Two suitcases' tells the story of a young Jewish woman who works for a strictly Orthodox family and tries to understand Jewish life. Two little treasures on the subject of what it means to be a Jew: to be neither more nor less than human. "
The film was first released in the Netherlands on March 30, 1998 in Belgium, on August 12, 1998 in Germany and on August 13, 1999 in Switzerland. In the Free TV , respectively, on German television, "Kalman's Secret" was broadcast several times, most recently on 13 August 2007 on SF2 , today SRF2 (there even in bilingual ). "Kalman's Secret" is on distribution from Polygram Filmed Entertainment and Buena Vista International and has received the FBW rating of "valuable".
action
During his escape from the National Socialist regime in Belgium , a man buries his most valuable personal belongings and especially family mementos in two suitcases in an unknown garden in Antwerp .
Years later: In Antwerp in 1972, Mr. Silberschmidt ( Maximilian Schell ) and his wife tried to overcome the traumatizing atrocities as survivors of the Holocaust, to make their life as “meaningful” as possible in “modern” Central European everyday life.
Outwardly, he has adapted to the early 1970s, but on the anniversary of his sister's suicide he falls again into the most severe depression . Mr. Silberschmidt tries compulsively (like every year) - with pre-war city maps and a shovel - to find his two "lost suitcases" ( left luggage ), which additionally burdens the fragile relationship with his wife and daughter and increasingly alienates him from his friends.
Ms. Silberschmidt ( Marianne Sägebrecht ) completely represses the years in the concentration camp , unlike her husband never talks about it, looks "cheerful and relaxed" on the outside - she tries to maintain the appearance of "normality" and to forget the terrible years in her own way, by looking for joie de vivre in cooking, cake baking, Indian weaving, her houseplants and superficial contact with her neighbors (the Goldman couple , Miriam Margolyes and Lex Goudsmit ).
The fun-loving twenty-year-old daughter Chaja ( Laura Fraser ) perceives this situation as an inevitable reality of her parents' home, who does not understand the "distant" past of her parents, and tries to maintain a loving, distant relationship with them through occasional visits. The philosophy student - raised extremely liberally by her parents - enjoys her life as a modern young woman in Antwerp in the years following the 1968 movement , where she shares an apartment with her friend Sofie ( Heather Weeks ) (and in individual cases also her lover), grateful not to have to live in my parents' household anymore.
Chaja has no relation to her Jewish origins, does not suppress it, but does not worry about the past of her family either, and she looks down at Orthodox people with youthful "arrogance".
Looking for a new job after the spirited young woman has once again lost a job and is suffering from lack of money, Mr. Apfelsnitt ( Chaim Topol ) - friend and neighbor of her parents and a fatherly advisor for her - finds a well-paid job: As a childcare worker and housekeeper in a Hasidic household, with the Kalman family, who live in a neighborhood in Antwerp with mostly Hasidic traditions.
Ms. Kalman ( Isabella Rossellini ) is initially just as alienated by the clothes that shock her, the fun-loving, direct and provocative nature of Chaja as Chaja is about the supposedly “backward” way of life of the Orthodox Hasidim at first superficial glance. Despite this, Ms. Kalman is grateful to have some help in the household for herself and her five children (two of them babies), with which she feels increasingly overwhelmed, knowing that Mr. Kalman ( Jeroen Krabbé ) will hardly come to terms with Chaja.
Chaja's first day at work turns into a debacle. The liberally brought up young woman is not familiar with the strict rules of Orthodox Judaism and does everything wrong. The gloomy Mr. Kalman treats her like air, feels provoked by the revealing Chaja and her disrespectful desire. Chaja is about to throw everything back when she discovers the smile of the four-year-old Simcha (Adam Monty): Simcha has not spoken a word in his life, although he is physically not missing anything. In a strange way, Chaja feels attracted to the quiet boy, and seeing him again is initially the only reason why she does not give up this work at the beginning, discouraged by the traditions that she does not understand and the way of life of the Kalman family that is alien to her. This allows the everyday anti-Semitic harassment of the caretaker ( David Bradley ) to endure calmly and with trust in God, but increasingly influenced by Chaja's attitude to life.
Simcha takes Chaja into her heart just as quickly as she does him, and for both of them the four afternoons each week are hours that they look forward to in equal measure and that they spend walking and feeding the ducks in the nearby park. Amid constant fears of his distant and strict father, Simcha finds his language and the respect of his father thanks to Chaja, which applies equally to Mr. Kalman's constantly provocative "domestic help", who is distant ("Kalman's secret"), especially from Simcha her own impetuous ways exposed.
With her empathetic manner and life-affirming attitude, Chaja wins Mrs. Kalman and the children for herself, initially takes an insight into their everyday life, and over time she becomes part of family life. Chaja's interest in her own origins and cultural history grows to the same extent. This is expressed, for example, in the change in her clothing to a conservative style, restraint, tolerance and the reluctance to criticize her “incomprehensible” way of life.
In obvious contrast to her “provocative” manner, presented in a striking way at the beginning of the film, Chaja is sensitized to the supposedly “ small, everyday discrimination ” in today's European everyday life, which her Jewish fellow citizens in Antwerp in the 1970s take for granted. Examples: The caretaker as an over-caricatured figure, lonely and venting his resentment in life on the Kalman family, when two superficial policemen bring Chaja's “confused” father home, the graffiti in the park, her friend Sofie, who reacts to Chaja's Jewish origins with prejudice - the same that Chaja himself cherished towards the Hasidim way of life at the beginning of the film.
The last ten minutes of the moving film, which overall has a fine sense of the ironic aspects of everyday life, may seem strange at first glance: For Simcha's tragic accidental death (Chaja was "on leave" for a week by Mrs. Kalman), is from Responsibility was assigned to parts of the Hasidic community of Chaja. But not from the Kalman family: The dialogue between Mr. Apfelsnitt with Chaja and one of the two scenes at Simcha's funeral can be revealing - Mrs. Kalman cuts the collar of Chaja's dress into a long tear as a sign of mourning (as a sign of the decisive loss of a loved ones) and takes them into the family with this ritual.
In the final scene, Chaja seems to be able to accept and understand, even share, the “eccentric obsession” of her father (and, indirectly, of her mother) and to have found her own cultural identity as a modern young woman of Jewish origin and tradition, and the cinematic one To have internalized a call to mutual tolerance and respect for life.
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 1998
- 1998 - “ Blue Angel ” (AGICOA Prize) for the best European film in the competition program
- 1998 - "Prize of the Guild of German Film Art Theaters " (Jeroen Krabbé)
- 1998 - Isabella Rossellini: "Special Mention" for "Extraordinary Representation"
- 1998 - Nomination for the “ Golden Bear ” at the 48th Berlinale
Further film awards
- 1998 - "British Independent Film Award" (BIFA): Nomination for "Best Foreign Independent Film - English Language"
- 1998 - "Internationales Filmfest Emden": Jeroen Krabbé - "Emden Film Award"
- 1998 - "Nederlands Film Festival": Jeroen Krabbé - "Grolsch Film Award"
Movie reviews
“With 'Kalman's Secret', actor Jeroen Krabbé (' Auf der Flucht ', ' Lord of the Tides ') has made an impressive directorial debut: a multi-layered, soulful drama about an unconventional young woman's search for her Jewish identity and the memory of the painful past of the adult generation. "
“With his first film, Jeroen Krabbé delivered a small masterpiece. He not only succeeded in showing the wounds that the Holocaust left behind, but also in bringing the world of devout Jews closer to the viewer in a haunting way. "
“The Dutchman Jeroen Krabbe presents a sensitive story about life after the Holocaust with his directorial debut 'Kalman's Secret'. A wonderfully cast film that advocates tolerance between generations and cultures. "
“The Dutchman Jeroen Krabbe, known as an actor from 'The Fourth Man' and Bond villain among others, presents with his directorial debut a sensitive story about life after the Holocaust. With his wonderfully cast film, Krabbe advocates tolerance between generations and cultures. "
“... However, the film suffers from a seemingly cramped acting leadership and a rather unfortunate cast. The seemingly superimposed melodrama robs the human message of much of its vitality. "
"With his directorial debut, the actor Jeroen Krabbé has blown himself up: he deals with topics such as the Holocaust and religious fanaticism like stencils and as heavy as lead."
“At the beginning, the directorial debut of actor Gerome Crabbet, who also plays here, is quite moving, but at the latest halfway through, the air is out because the story is much too overloaded ... In addition, many actors act - like Isabella Rossellini, Maximilian Schell or Marianne Sägebrecht - well below level. Boring."
literature
- Carl Friedman: Twee Koffers Vol. ("Two Suitcases"). Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 1993, ISBN 90-282-0822-4 .
- Carl Friedman: Father / Two suitcases. Translation: Marlene Müller-Haas, Christiane Kuby. Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-570-19522-8 .
- Martin Buber: The stories of the Hasidim. Manesse Verlag, Zurich 1949, ISBN 3-7175-1062-2 .
- William G. Netherlands: Consequences of the Persecution: The Survivor Syndrome, Soul Murder. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1980. (edition suhrkamp, 2002, ISBN 3-518-11015-2 ).
Web links
- Kalman's secret in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Portrait and works of the author Carl Friedman on "brigitte.de"
- Film and reading instructions by Arja Schults for “Twee Koffers Vol” (PDF; 2.04 MB, Dutch)
- Caroline Picart: Human Rights and the Body in Law and the Humanities. Florida State University ( "Strozier Holocaust Films Collection" English)
- The Virtual Jewish History Tour Belgium by Alden Oreck (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Short review by Elke Heidenreich : "Two suitcases" ( Memento from May 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Website of the “Berlinale”: Overview of the prizes from independent juries ( Memento of the original from April 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ "British Independent Film Award" (BIFA) website (English)
- ^ Emden International Film Festival 1998. Internet Movie Database , accessed on June 24, 2015 (English).
- ^ "Internationales Filmfest Emden" website
- ↑ Nederlands Film Festival (1998) in the "Internet Movie Database" (IMDB, English).
- ↑ SWR3 cinema database ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
