Siberia (1998)

I love this movie so much

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The film follows the lives of two young Dutch hustlers, Hugo and Goof, who inhabit Amsterdam's backstreets, getting stoned and preying on female backpackers for fun, thrills and self gratification.The youths are 100% anti-heroes; their hustle is to seduce female tourists into bed and then steal their cash. However, the pair have a sick 'game' going on between them too - that is to rip-out a page from the girls' passports so to prove to one and other that they have made a sexual 'conquest'. A wall in the apartment they share is plastered with passport pages - without regard for the problems they cause to their unsuspecting 'victims' by depriving them of their official documentation.The film is a fast moving black-comedy urban drama. It is very much in the style of "Trainspotting" and "Run Lola Run", accompanied by a heavy dance soundtrack and many moments in the film feel like a music-video, to very good effect. It is merry-go-round ride through a dangerous cityscape of naive fun-seekers preyed on by scumbags - but it somehow retains its comic edge, even though the storyline is dark, the activity not humorous nor admirable. This is because we see the story through the eyes of Goof and Hugo, and as such the movie works on this level - for had it been through the eyes of their 'victims' then it surely would have been a very different film.As Hugo and Goof continue their deplorable 'game' and are in effect just a pair of low-life wasters dressed in trendy clothes, Lara, a Russian girl, comes in to their lives - and everything changes for them! Lara is equally as deviant and manipulative as both of them. Goof quickly falls in love with Lara and Hugo becomes jealous and fearful of the danger she poses to the dynamics of his best-friendship, partner-in-crime relationship with Goof.As the boys relationship begins to crack, they begin to distrust each other - and Lara works out what their 'game' is and what their hustles are. She has hustles of her own and can navigate her way round the Amsterdam 'backpacker underworld' as easily as they can. A disastrous love-hate triangle then develops and reaches break-point consequences after Hugo rapes Lara - to 'prove' himself the dominant personality and take her as his own 'conquest' - and Lara then seeks vengeance on the pair climaxing in the story's edgy, fast paced finale.

The film deals with two apparently heartless, empty men, Goof and Hugo, who seduce tourists and then rob them of their passports and some of their cash. This is until they meet Lara and Goof finds himself too attached to continue his ruthless ways.In looking at these two empty men, this film seems to ignore the fact that it is as empty and soulless as the two protagonists. The film has a very slight story - so slight that it's hard to care. Basically the two men find their match in the equally untrustworthy Lara, there's also a love triangle plot and a bet. But really it's very thin and without substance.The performances are pretty good, although Goof is not totally convincing. However the script lets everyone down and the director cannot hide it. The director tries to be as hip as possible (he's obviously seen Trainspotting and the like), he uses a pumping dance soundtrack, he uses different film stocks, slow-mo, different camera angles etc etc. It really like he's making a 90 minute pop video - but that doesn't make a good film, instead it just highlights how empty the whole thing is.The ending doesn't really mean anything and the film doesn't have any moral or message. Instead this just wants to get a young audience by having drugs and sex, fast music, music video direction and hip, morally ambiguous characters.

Goof and Hugo are friends with a hobby. In Amsterdam, they pick up female tourists and get intimate quickly. When the girls are asleep, their money is stolen along with the first page of their passport. The scheme is upset when Lara comes to town and gets treated by Goof and Hugo. Goof habitually falls in love with the girl, but this time Hugo cannot get him to move on. Will Lara's desire to take Goof home to Siberia drive the friends apart?Given that it is a low-budget Dutch production, this movie has a lot going for it. Most of the conversations are in English, which should limit subtitling to a minimum. The score by Amsterdam-based DJ's Junkie XL is excellent and the movie has a good pace. Those who have been to the city, or are familiar with the tourist scene in Amsterdam, are sure to have a good laugh at some of the characters in the movie.

After I saw "Karakter" (Character) I knew that in The Netherlands we could also make movies worth looking. This one proves that also. After seeing too many movies with an "American way of life"-look it is a relief to see something completely Dutch. While it's not so perfect as "Character" it's still much better than the average which comes from Hollywood. The actors are exactly at the right place, and the music from Junkie XL is really cool , but I always liked the Prodigy-style.