Zusje (1995)
AKA: Little Sister
Directed by: Robert Jan Westdijk
Starring: Kim van Kooten (Daantje), Romijn Conen (Martijn), Roeland Fernhout (Ramon), Hannah Risselada (Little Daantje), Michael Münninghoff (Little Martijn)
Country: Netherlands; Effed Up European Cinema
Language: Dutch; Effed Up Dutch Films
Runtime: 01:27:51
Plot – Spoilers:
Martijn appears unannounced at his sister Daantje’s place on the eve of her 20th birthday after being away for several years. Daantje is awkward, bordering on hostile initially, and Martijn doesn’t help things by insisting on recording her every move with his handheld camera.
Martijn uses his camera as an aggressive voyeur as he follows Daantje everywhere, while also insisting that she watch some tapes from their childhood. The tapes contain a taboo family secret that she doesn’t seem interested in squaring up to after all these years.
Zusje is a handheld-cam film as we watch everything through Martijn’s camera and we are therefore in a sense slaves to his perspective. Until a switch happens. A little aside here is how a person’s sense of wellbeing can change when they go from being the one in control recording others, to the one being recorded.
Genres: Siblings, Incest, Childhood, Voyeur-Stalking
who else got incest obsessions
little sister is watching u
Hard to tell what makes “Zusje” work so well. The concept of the faux-documentary and the entirely subjective, mostly hand-held camera-work is both highly original and certainly something novel in the Netherlands at the time. Or is it the main role by Kim van Kooten, who is almost permanently on screen. Director Robert Jan Westdijk apparently auditioned over three hundred candidates for the main role, but none of them apparently had the right quality to express a certain kind of innocence when looking directly into the camera (which occurs a lot). After this endless search, Kim van Kooten – in her debut role – came up as first choice and she is a real find. She really is the kind of unpolished natural talent every first-time director dreams of. Through the subjective camera we’re soon part of a voyeuristic and rather uncomfortable journey when we join video-obsessed Martijn (Romijn Coonen with the voice of Hugo Metsers III) who – after a long absence – decides to pay a surprise visit to his younger sister Daantje (Kim van Kooten) on her 20th birthday and starts filming her almost constantly. She is a design student in Amsterdam and seems quite tolerant of her brother’s continuous presence while he obsessively intrudes her daily goings-on. Daantje engages in a turbulent relationship with Ramon (Roeland Fernhout) whose initial tolerance of Martijn – now entering his life as well – soon makes place for irritation. Through frequent flashbacks (grainy footage shot on super-8) we slowly learn… Read more »
is the picture of urine geller?
why do i get live sex cams when i click anything on this shite?
I watched “Victim” (2010) before this one and I thought it was pretty irritating. “Victim” is not nearly as irritating as this one. Go to 1:22:50 (near the end of the film) and listen to a little of the last song in the movie called “Somebody Come and Play” to get a feel of how irritating this movie is before you watch it. I thought Dr. Volk in “Victim” was the most irritating character in a movie until I saw Ramon in this one. A film about someone filming someone who ends up getting filmed. It sucks so bad. 1 star.
what s the name of the song at the beginning?
Whenever I am told that a band is the worst band in the world I have to check them out. Motorhead, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones were supposed to be the worst bands in the world and I love all 3 of them. I recently watched “The Ramones – It’s Alive – Live at the Rainbow Theatre London 12/31/77.” At that time The Ramones were at their best. That led me to watch “End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones” (2003) which is an excellent documentary. That led me to watch “Hey Is Dee Dee Home?” (2002) which is a pretty good documentary. That led me to watch “Looking For Johnny” (2014), “Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie” (1999) and the saddest one “New York Doll” (2005) about bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane. (I’ve seen all these before but I just watched them again.) I was told that The New York Dolls were the worst band in the world and they are certainly one of them but that was their appeal and what made them icons of the punk movement. Aerosmith hit the big time right about the same time as the Dolls and they look very similar (Aerosmith played at Max’s Kansas City in 1971 and I’m sure the Dolls were there taking notes). David Johansen and Steven Tyler could be twins. Joe Perry and Johnny Thunders could be twins. Even Arthur Kane and Tom Hamilton look alike. The big difference between Aerosmith and… Read more »
Lick my pickle
I just watched a bunch of films. Reading this comment is optional. 1. “Morphine” (2008) is directed by Aleksei Balabanov who also directed “Cargo 200” (2007) which is a fantastic film that is on this site. “Morphine” is about a doctor in a small village in Russia in 1917. Medical techniques have changed after more than a century. There are some very gruesome scenes that will make you wince. The good doctor is addicted to, you guessed it, morphine. The techniques for kicking a drug habit haven’t changed much in a century. Great film. 2. “Morphine and Dolly Mixtures” (1990) is about a teenage girl in the 1950’s who is left in the care of her abusive, alcoholic, drug addict father after her mother dies. Patrick Bergin (of “Sleeping With the Enemy” fame) is the dear old dad and Joanna Griffiths is his daughter. Two great performances, especially from Griffiths. Another great film. 3. “Tiresia” (2003) is directed by Bertrand Bonello. It is a modern take on a Greek Mythology tale. A man (Laurent Lucas) kidnaps a transvestite (Clara Choveaux – great actress – more on her later) and keeps her locked up in his cabin/dungeon. It’s best not to read too much about this one before you watch it. 5 star film. This one is excellent. 4. “The Demons” (2015) with Laurent Lucas again (small role this time). This one you will have to be really patient to watch. It’s fucking slow and some of the scenes drag on… Read more »
In honour of Chuck getting his sparkly hat I will be watching An American Werewolf in London.
Fred Fat is pretty much the bees knees. We fought in Nam together. He made me rice bombs and shit.
racist people r gay rabbits…proved fact…
if you want a real talk about murdering people you can talk to me…183 people genocide in tigray
Yall are faggots & id beat the shit out of you gay cry babys
Admin, you guys are getting lazy… Over 2 weeks now without posting new movies. This is unacceptable service and if it carries on like this, I will be forced to cancel my subscription!
Now go to work and find some more disturbing shit!!!!