Left Luggage (1998)
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.
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One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
I watched this with my wife because she is sensitive and intellectual. I was left in a stooper. My eyes glazed over and then rolled up into the back of my head. I could not stay awake. I love my wife. She is the love of my life. The fact that I would even attempt to sit in one place for the entire movie is evidence of my willingness to endure great suffering on her behalf.I am now told that I need to write 10 lines of text in order for my review to be post-worthy. I have a life. Why am I doing this? I can tell you why, because I thought it would be fun and easy. Now, it has become an endurance test - just like the movie. I am going to bed now. I need to sleep.By the way, my wife really loved the movie... and I love her... and she loves me. I guess that is what tolerance is all about.
¨Left Luggage¨ is an interesting drama about human relationships , humanism but also tragedy . While getting away from Germans during the WWII, a Jewish man named Mr. SilberSchmidt (Maximilian Schell)- married an understanding woman (Mariane Sagebrecht)- dug baggage full of precious objects dear to his heart in the soil. The war deprived him of his parents and brothers, and nowadays , Amberes 1972, he endlessly seeks underground to encounter the luggage. His daughter named Chaya (Laura Frazer) is a likable young girl opposed to the observant Jewish and she is seeking a part-time job. Thanks Yakov (Chaim Topol) she encounters a job as a nanny in the strictly observant Chassidic family formed by a rigid father (Jeroen Krabbe) and a mother (Isabella Rossellini) with five children . One of the reasons Chaya is accepted is that mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the homework, so she stays in spite of the family head's wrath. She establishes a special relationship to the four-year old Simcha, so far incapable of speaking. Chaya teaches him while walking in the park, and Simcha suddenly imitates the duck's sounds and after he will be able to chant parts of the Haggadah. In the building the Jewish family and Chaya are continuously harassed by the porter (David Bradley).This thought-provoking film deals with human feelings , love , compassion , sufferings, anti-semitism, familiar environments and many other things . Extraordinary casting who gives very good performances , as Laura Frazer as the young who develops a special bond with the youngest of the boys, Maximilian Schell as obsessed old man who looks for checking old maps and keeps digging, attempting to encounter his ancient suitcases, David Bailey as nasty pathetic anti-Semite caretaker , a repulsive porter who puts constant difficulties to Chassidic family and also for Chaya ; and of course Isabella Rossellini as understanding mother with some secular manners who faces his strict husband . This marvelous and warm film is stunningly directed by Jeroen Krabbe . Jeroen is a prestigious Dutch actor who has only directed two films with quite success and dramatics , this one and ¨The discovery of heaven¨ , both of then he also acted . Rating : Better than average. Worthwhile watching
Being Belgian, we always hate it when the Dutch do something better than us. Well, Jeroen Krabbe is both an actor and a director for which we have difficulty finding a match. Left Luggage is a movie about a girl (Chaya, played by the immensely beautiful Laura Fraser) that becomes a nanny in a ultra-orthodox family of Jews. Both her and the family need some adjusting to each other, but in the end they become very close and she is accepted into the family. Both her own parents as the father of the children she's supposed to watch have difficulties letting the past go, and the movie tells this in a subtle way.And of course, disaster strikes in the end, though in an unexpected way.I'm not going to tell you the content of the movie, but it is very emotional, very gripping.Try it. I give it an 8.
This movie looks like it was cooked up by some novice at film school who borrowed a script based on a twelve year old's homework entitled "tragedy".Stereotypical in every characterisation and with cliche oozing out of every line of dialogue, the film limps from one cringe to the next. By the end - during the weepiest scene, I could be found on my knees in the aisle, holdind my aching sides and mouthing "please stop" whilst my wife dabbed her eyes with a tissue. I have rarely seen anything more amusing.