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IMDbPro

Joy

  • 20102010
  • 1h 15m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
317
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
129,089
41,456
Joy (2010)
Drama
Joy is an emotionally damaged young woman of eighteen, who was given up at birth, to grow up in homes and with foster families. She lives on the fringes of society, getting by on benefits an... Read allJoy is an emotionally damaged young woman of eighteen, who was given up at birth, to grow up in homes and with foster families. She lives on the fringes of society, getting by on benefits and earning a little extra by playing the accordion in the subway. In addition, she is a ski... Read allJoy is an emotionally damaged young woman of eighteen, who was given up at birth, to grow up in homes and with foster families. She lives on the fringes of society, getting by on benefits and earning a little extra by playing the accordion in the subway. In addition, she is a skilled shoplifter and has never been caught. The film follows her closely during her dogged ... Read all
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
317
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
129,089
41,456
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Mijke de Jong
    • Writer
      • Helena van der Meulen
    • Stars
      • Samira Maas
      • Coosje Smid
      • Dragan Bakema
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Mijke de Jong
    • Writer
      • Helena van der Meulen
    • Stars
      • Samira Maas
      • Coosje Smid
      • Dragan Bakema
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 4 nominations

    Photos

    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Samira Maas
    • Joy
    Coosje Smid
    • Denise
    Dragan Bakema
    Dragan Bakema
    • Moumou
    Sharon Schouten
    • Zwangerschapsdocente
    Elisabeth Hesemans
    • Sanne
    Lisette Livingston
    • Imme
    Dalorim Wartes
    • John-John
    Kuno Bakker
    • Bewaker opvanghuis
    Has Drijver
    • Automobilist liften
    Olga Louzgina
    • Eerste moeder
    Samir Naima El Bezaz
    • Moeder Joy
    • (as Naima El Bezaz)
    Fred Goessens
    • Hulpverlener opvanghuis
    Verica Nedeska
    Verica Nedeska
    • Neda
    • Director
      • Mijke de Jong
    • Writer
      • Helena van der Meulen
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Connections
      Featured in Pauw & Witteman: Episode #4.146 (2010)

    User reviews2

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Underrated pearl
    The film had almost no publicity at it's debut. When it was picked up by the major Dutch talk show "Pauw & Wittenman" because of his merits, and the story of the the debuting leading roll player Samira Maas, it had already almost disappeared from rotation. I saw that show, wanted to see the film and had only the choice between Saturday morning 11.00u., Sunday morning 11.00u.and Wednesday at 12.00u. after which it disappeared from rotation. I sat in the movie theater at Saturday morning with 1 other viewer at an unchristian time when one should hate going to a movie, but I never regretted it. In fact I am browsing the internet at this moment to see if the DVD isn't out yet, because I want to see the film again.

    The movie has two great assets: The performance of Samira Maas & the intense colors it is filmed in.

    Samira plays a foster child curious to find her mother. She is not a professional actress, but in fact a foster child herself, who is studying law school and volunteering at an organization who informs about & supports the rights of foster children. The under-cooled "anger against society" that she ventilates in her roll sparkle from her eyes & jump down from the screen. Yet it's a roll & not her character, nor her personal life experience. Although her job probably prepared her richly for it and made per the perfect fit for the roll, she nevertheless shows an amazing natural talent in acting and has a mesmerizing fresh & brutal screen-presence.

    The second great asset of the film is the way light is used. By over-lightning, the colors get a bleak but immensely bright character, that brilliantly fit the content & the atmosphere of the story: young women on the verge of adulthood, with inner pain & need of attention, struggling to get their life rolling and finding closure on their past of being abandoned and having to grow up in an institute for foster children, but nevertheless going firmly forward.

    Joy is a small film constantly breathing in the neck of it's actors, and thus concentrating on their mindset and psychological development, rather then on a big story or beautiful sets. No murders, crimes, guns, just a natural psychological development, dramatized in a human story dealing with the anger issues that belong to the pain of abandonment, in it's own sort of controlled, fruitful way.

    The plot is simple but effective: Young girl determent to find her mother, yet afraid to contact the person who she thinks is her mother, starts spying on her to discover who she herself is.
    helpful•9
    1
    • ewevrij
    • Jul 1, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 8, 2010 (Netherlands)
    • Country of origin
      • Netherlands
    • Language
      • Dutch
    • Also known as
      • Džoja
    • Production company
      • IDTV Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 15 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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