Little Sister [Zusje]

Robert Jan Westdijk, Netherlands, 1995, 91 minutes

In 1995 to the surprise of many attendants of the Dutch Film Festival not the much favoured Antonia's Line but the low budget, independent film Zusje won the Golden Calf for Best Picture. In short, Zusje is about sex, lies and videotape.

The entire film is shot from the point of view of one of the main characters: Martijn. Martijn hasn't seen his zusje (little sister) Daantje for a long time - one day he visits her and after hesitating a while, she allows him to come in to her flat unknowingly allowing him to enter her life. Obsessed with his sister he relentlessly follows her around everywhere (and I mean everywhere!) with a camcorder, recording her life on tape. With Martijn we start learning about Daantje's life, her friends, her interests. It soon becomes clear that the relationship between the siblings is not without tension - we get hints that there was a traumatic event in the past that both have not digested properly, but which gradually will be revealed during the course of the film.

The writers allowed themselves to work on their exceptional script for no longer than three years and none of the dialogue is improvised, although it may seem so. The acting in Zusje is excellent and the director, Westdijk, has a gift of telling a story without any unnecessary details. Also - this is a really low budget film, with a crew of about 25 members who did not know whether the film would actually make it to the theatres. Luckily it did.

Zusje was shot and edited on video and later blown up to 35mm - yes, like The Blair Witch Project or Festen this is not a film for those who get motion sick easily, and it may be a bit hard to sit through: First of all for its contents that are difficult to accept and appreciate and then for the total subjective point of view for the duration of the whole film. Zusje is a fresh and inventive film and a film you will not forget that easily.

Review by Sarah Stark
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2001