Het zusje van Katia (2008) Reviews

• Unlike anything I imagined it would be...

  BobStage2008-09-07

  I came into this movie knowing a film that centered around a young girl surrounded by the vicious world of poverty. Her mother is a prostitute, and her older sister enrolls at a strip club, leaving the girl to withdraw into her own emotions. However, the film was very different from what I imagined it would be. Much footage is used simply with her as she walks through the city, alone and ghost-like. The camera is almost always focused on her. Either it's set over her shoulder, and we feel like we're walking along with her, or it's focused on her face, showing traces of suppressed emotions that she is going through. For a lot of the time, she's just blank, weary from not having time for herself or even her own name. This is a kind of filming I'm not used to seeing, but while it takes some getting used to, it's interesting. The relationships with her mother and sister are full of depth, and they influence her character in the film. She is forced to take care of both her mother and sister, thereby losing a bit of herself in the process. She does not even use her own name, merely calling herself, the sister of Katia. She must also deal with her grandmother, who cannot speak Dutch and is feeling the effects of senility. Meanwhile, she is the middle person in a war between her mother and her sister. The two constantly lock horns, especially on the fact that Katia has become employed as a stripper. Her mother urges her not to enter the world that she herself is trapped in, but Katia refuses. One character that she attaches herself to outside of her family is John Turner, a Christian worker who talks to her about Jesus and the teachings of the Bible. She starts to read about the Ten Commandments, and other pieces of the Bible, and continues the meetings with Turner as he talks to other people about Christianity. While she is doing this, Katia is spiralling further down the road that many in poverty end up taking. She becomes infatuated with an Italian boy who uses her only for sex, and she develops a drug addiction. This adds more to the burden that the protagonist must deal with. This film is a well done piece of work, but it was awkward for me at times to sit through some of the scenes. Some of her scenes are painful to watch for you sense the vulnerability of her surroundings and her lack of a role model. But I recommend it, for it is a unique style that big Hollywood movies never show you.

• Lucia

  jotix1002010-03-13

  An intense looking girl, Lucia, is seen, when we first meet her, in a classroom. When the teacher asks her what would she like to be when she will be older, she answers: "Katia's sister". Thus begins the story in which we follow Lucia, who at times gives the impression of being mentally challenged, but at the same time, this teenager shows an intelligence and resiliency that are rare to find in such a young person. Lucia lives in a home with her prostitute mother and her sister Katia. They are of Russian extraction, now living in an Amsterdam suburb. The girl adores her older sister, whom she idolizes. There is little to admire in Katia. She is a girl that sooner, or later, will end up in the red light district, following her mother's footsteps. Katia is a mess, but she also can show a tender side to her little sibling. Lucia loves to stalk people in the streets. We watch her as she gets behind a young woman, whose hair she finds attractive and, for a second, she gets to caress it. She meets John Turner, in her walks through the city. He is a sort of a preacher that talks about religion, specially to young people. Lucia takes to John immediately, developing a teenager's crush; John represents a role model for her, coming, as she does from an all female household. She even invites John to her home. Unfortunately, the visit goes wrong when Lucia wants to offer herself to John for sex, which only makes him flee in horror because she repeats what Katia is always talking about. Lucia comes from a dysfunctional home. She listens to stories by Katia and her mother sets a bad example for the impressionable girl. Our heart goes to Lucia, because in spite of her shortcomings, she shows signs of being a good girl, having been dealt the wrong hand in the game of life. We have to confess we had no idea what the film was about. Director Mijke De Jong uses what appears to be an improvising style for the narrative. It is easy to see how an audience will get engrossed in the story. Lucia is basically growing up by herself without any real guidance from either her mother, or sister. She is, in a way, more mature than either Katia or her mother. She is way beyond her years. Lucia is rejected by her own mother, when she goes away with a new boyfriend and is given money to fend for herself. The cruelty that is shown to Lucia is criminal. The film is based on a novel by Andres Barba, which we never read. The adaptation is by Jan Eilander and Jolein Laarman. The cinematography of Ton Peters is grainy at times showing us a moody Lucia at the beginning and as the film ends. Betty Qizmolli, the young actress that plays Lucia is a natural. Ms. Qizmolli's face never lies, she does an amazing job in getting her character and the viewer's heart. Julia Seijkens is also good as Katia. Olga Louzgina is seen as the cruel mother. Ian Bok makes an impression as well.