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(More customer reviews)Trying to catch up on some of the significant international cinema of the last few years, I stumbled across the Dutch epic "Twin Sisters." Based on an enormously popular bestseller, this is a much honored film that represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Academy Awards. While set largely during World War II, and having much to say about the subject, this is first and foremost a study of sisterly love and commitment. For even though the characters are separated through the bulk of the picture, the loss and the bond that these sisters have infuse every scene and every decision that they make.
The film starts with a brilliant setup. When two young girls are left orphans in Germany, they are wanted by two different sets of in-laws. The German in-laws are a poor farming family who need free labor, while the rich in-laws live in the Netherlands and want to bring the girls up properly. A concession is made that pleases neither, but eliminates further debate. Lotte, who has consumption, is given away to the Dutch family who can try to cure her and Anna, the healthy one, is kept on the German farm. It is that random--the course of your whole existence decided in a split second. It's an interesting and thought-provoking topic.
Lotte is cured and leads a life of privilege. Playing the piano, luxuriating on yachts, and finding romance and engagement with a family friend--you can't help but envy her lifestyle. Anna, meanwhile, is kept from school by being declared "retarded," worked, and brutalized on the farm. The two girls lose complete track of one another, their "parents" have each made independent decisions that it is best if they don't communicate. Eventually realizing they are each still alive, they reconnect--but much has changed, including the rise of Nazism. The film looks at Anna's life as a German, she is a maid and supports her country. And the film examines Lotte's life. While still a German, she sees things from the outside--and, in fact, her fiance is Jewish.
The beauty of "Twin Sisters" is that you see these girls evolve as products of their environments. Each has much to be admired, but each makes terrible mistakes. Your allegiance flip-flops back and forth as you inevitably get caught up in their stories. The cast is impeccable. Through different ages, and through a narrative flashback structure, there is a lot of story to be told here. Occasionally, I wished to be able to spend more time in a certain sequence--to really feel its import. But there is no question that the film packs an emotional wallop. I respected "Twin Sisters," it's a serious minded film for people who like adult entertainment. The ultimate moral dilemma is posed, what if things were different? What if the roles had been reversed, would the outcome have been the same? Good stuff. KGHarris, 01/07.
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Nominated for an Academy Award® (Best Foreign Language Film, 2003), TWIN SISTERS (DE TWEELING) is the emotional and provocative story that tells the tale of two sisters who must come to terms with their fate amid the heat of World War II. Lotte and Anna become orphans by the age of six. One is sent to live a life of privilege with wealthy relatives in the Netherlands, while the other stays in Germany to face a harsh existence on her uncle’s farm. When they reconnect years later, they not only discover that their lives have taken drastically different paths but, following Germany’s invasion of Holland, they find themselves pitted on opposite sides of the war. Powerful and thought provoking, this award-winning motion picture earned worldwide critical acclaim!
