Zus & zo (2001)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Paula van der Oest

Writer:

Paula van der Oest (writer)

Release Date:

8 May 2002 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

A comedy about love, family and other discomforts

Plot:

Zus & Zo shows what three sisters are willing to do to stop their would-be sister-in-law from coming into possession of Paraíso, their beloved family summer home on the Portuguese coast.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Gay Brother | Portugal | Gay | Psychiatrist

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Sylvia Poorta	...	Michelle
Anneke Blok	...	Wanda
Monic Hendrickx	...	Sonja
Jacob Derwig	...	Nino
Halina Reijn	...	Bo Mendes
Jaap Spijkers	...	Jan
Theu Boermans	...	Hugo
Antje Boermans	...	Lizzy
Pieter Embrechts	...	Felix
Annet Nieuwenhuyzen	...	Moeder (as Annet Nieuwenhuijzen)
Jorge Do Collo	...	Mauricio
Mike Reus	...	Bredi
Marisa Van Eyle	...	Dorien (as Marisa van Eyle)
Tijn Docter	...	Peer
Harpert Michielsen	...	Mos

Also Known As:

Hotel Paraiso

Runtime:

106 min | Netherlands:100 min

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch | English | French | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:16 | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:AL | Chile:14

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Filmprodukties de Luwte

Engaging script and competent acting

When I heard about ZUS AND ZO there was something about it that was familiar. Then I read it was a 2002 Foreign Language Film Award nominee. Then I remembered my attendance at the Symposium in March, 2003, at AMPAS (i.e. Academy who plies the Oscars) in which Director Paula van der Oest presented a short clip from the film in turn with four other nominees the day before the big OSCAR event.

I totally enjoyed the film in a discussion and clip screening of four other 2002 nominees.

There were two things I remembered in Director van der Oest's discussion about the movie and the movie's making. The first relates to comments already posted: the acting / direction it is more like a play than a movie. Well, this is true, since the Netherlands does not have an embedded source of film actors. She had to recruit actors from the theatrical pool of talent.

The second thing in memory was: 'remain for all the credits at the end of the film'. Well, I did that and this part -- which I enjoyed - totally shifted my opinion of events much before the closing credits.

The parting scenes at the hospital left me hanging a bit simply because of something not said or even hinted before. Up to this point we know of the prior lover relationship between Nino and Felix - the successful cable / satellite chef who is a charmer as he hashes hash. In Felix I saw a gay man who loves gay men. I did not see in Felix a gay man who loved transsexuals or transgender or cross dresser men. So, I missed something in the story ending when he accepts his ex-boyfriend with a new sex change as his lover and lifetime partner. That was a giant leap of faith. I can only backpedal to think that Nino's problem with his sexual identity was indeed the problem between himself and Felix. And now that Felix is financially and career successful, why would he flip to the other side of the ten sided sexual coin?

Other than that, it is an excellent film, well written and well directed. It was screened in Los Angeles as part of a two-month weekend program at Laemmlie's theaters with the banner AROUND THE WORLD IN SIXTY DAYS in which six foreign films rotate between four theaters.

It is nice to have theaters that screen more than Hollywood cash-cow films!! Of course, the hope is that the milk will get sweeter and the butter richer with more independent and foreign films. Otherwise, life could grow dull.