Left Luggage (1998)

Against a background of holocaust memories, a liberal Jewish girl becomes a nanny to a young Jewish boy with a disability and grows fond of him.

Director:

Jeroen Krabbé

Writers:

Carl Friedman (novel), Edwin de Vries

Stars:

Laura Fraser, Adam Monty, Isabella Rossellini

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laura Fraser	...	Chaja
Adam Monty	...	Simcha
Isabella Rossellini	...	Mrs. Kalman
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Mr. Kalman
Topol	...	Mr. Apfelschnitt (as Chaim Topol)
Marianne Sägebrecht	...	Chaja's Mother (as Marianne Saegebrecht)
Maximilian Schell	...	Chaja's Father
David Bradley	...	Concierge
Heather Weeks	...	Sofie
Miriam Margolyes	...	Mrs. Goldblum
Lex Goudsmit	...	Mr. Goldblum
Krijn ter Braak	...	Grandfather
Mieke Verheyden	...	Grandmother (as Mieke Verheijden)
Noura Van der Berg	...	Selma
Lana Broekaert	...	Chaja (7 Years)

Storyline

While escaping from Nazis during the WWII, a Jewish man dug suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground two. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the suitcases, which makes him look obsessed. He keeps checking old maps and keeps digging, trying to find, in fact, those 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 Chassidic family with many children, although her secular manners clearly fly in the face of many commandments. One of the reasons she is accepted is that mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the household, so she stays despite the resistance of the father, normally - an indisputable authority in the family. She develops a special bond with the youngest of the boys, four-year old Simcha, so far incapable of speaking. She teaches him while walking in the park, and it seems that during the ...

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | female frontal nudity | orthodox jew | memory | nanny | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film marked the directorial debut of Jeroen Krabbé for a theatrical feature, the first producer credit for Ate de Jong, as well as the first solo screenplay credit for Edwin de Vries.

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Quotes

Chaya Silberschmidt: No cinema, no radio, no theater, no television. Not much fun then.

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Connections

Referenced in Ausverkauft! (1999)

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Soundtracks

Music box theme
from "Trois Gymnopédies"
Composed by Erik Satie

User Reviews

A Very Sad Story About Losses

In 1972, in Antwerp, Chaya (Laura Fraser) is a liberal Jewish student of philosophy living alone. Her father (Maximiliam Schell) spends his time trying to find two pieces of luggage he buried in the Second World War, like he could bring his past back. Her mother (Marianne Saegebrecht) spends her time preparing cakes and sewing, trying not to think in life. In order to raise some money to pay for her rent, Chaya accepts to work as the nanny of two twin babies in an orthodox Jewish home, recommended by her friend Mr. Apfelschnitt (Chaim Topol) to the babies' parents, Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rossellini) and Mr. Kalman (Jeroen Krabbé). Indeed Chaya feels some kind of affection for their four years old son Simcha (Adam Monty), a boy with serious emotional problems and without speech. Meanwhile, the concierge of the building (David Bradley) is a fascist who hates Jews and Chaya faces him without fear. The story has a very tragic end. This film is a very sad story about losses. The direction and performances of the cast are magnificent. Just as a curiosity, the Brazilian distributor LK-Tel Video wrote the following information in the front cover of the video: `Critics of the site www.imdb.com * As Good As The Schindler's List* ` I noted they used part of the comment made by the user `Sailor Leila ([e-mail]) York, England', who wrote: `In its own way, almost as good as Schindler's List'. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Amor e Dor' (`Love and Pain')

Details

Country:

Netherlands UK Belgium USA

Language:

English Hebrew Yiddish

Release Date:

30 March 1998 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

À la recherche du passé

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,069,540

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,111,280

Company Credits

Production Co:

CoBo Fonds, Creative Investment, De Vensche

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Cinecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1