Grimm (2003)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Alex van Warmerdam

Writers:

Otakar Votocek (contributing writer) and
Alex van Warmerdam (writer)

Release Date:

4 December 2003 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot:

One winter's day Jacob and his sister Marie are left behind in the woods by their unemployed father...

Plot Keywords:

Spain | Based On Fairy Tale | Organ Removal | Bilingual | Brother Sister Relationship

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Teresa Berganza	...	Mother (as Maria Teresa Berganza)
Johan Leysen	...	Father
Halina Reijn	...	Maria
Jacob Derwig	...	Jacob
Frank Lammers	...	Farmer
Annet Malherbe	...	Farmer´s wife
Jaap Spijkers	...	Horewhopper
Laura Cepeda	...	Dolores
Lola Peno	...	Woman on balcony
Fernando Moraleda	...	Man on balcony
Ulises Dumont	...	Luis
Carmelo Gómez	...	Diego
Peggy Sandaal	...	Sofia
Elvira Mínguez	...	Teresa
Henri Garcin	...	Don Felipe

Runtime:

103 min | Canada:112 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:110 min

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Graniet Film BV

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Allemaal film: Tussen kunst en kassa (#1.5)" (2007)

A Story Loosely Based On Hansel & Gretel (So Loose I Would Not Have Known It Had I Not Been Told)

As mentioned in the title, Grimm is, what I hear, based on the fairy tale of Hansel & Gretel. That sounded good but the movie I watched really had nothing to do with the story I knew. What we get is a decent, yet dark, movie that had some amusing moments.

Maria (Halina Reijn) and Jacob (Jacob Derwig) are an adult brother and sister who appears to have a sexual relationship as well. Gotta love the Dutch movie makers. Anyhow, Maria and Jacob are abandoned in the woods early on in the movie by their parents because they could no longer afford to take care of them. After the realization of their abandonment, they calm down and find a note from their mother in Maria's pocket. The note tells them to go to Spain and find their uncle who would be able to take care of them.

After a rough trip, they arrive at the address to find their uncle has died, which leaves them with nowhere to go. As you could probably guess, the siblings take to a life of vagrancy & crime to survive until Maria meets Diego (Carmelo Gómez), who kindly takes them in. At this point in the movie, you know that nothing good will ever happen to Maria & Jacob so Diego can't be good.

That seems to be the theme of the movie. I do not think they find one person who actually helps them out in the movie. Possibly, this is the resemblance to the fairy tale but, in all honesty, it does not seem similar at all to me, with minor exceptions of being lost in a forest, running into evil people, etc.

Overall, it was a decent movie that I felt could have done without the Hansel & Gretel connection. However, I surely would not have been as interested if they did not make that connection. It is what intrigued me to begin with, I suppose, but it is not what held my attention. The dark and sometimes humorous scenes are what kept me watching. This was not as good as I expected, however, I have spent my time in worse ways and on worse movies in the past. 6/10