CHARACTER
STORY
Character is a gift but sometime it is fatal.
A respectable young Lawyer is arrested after the city's
most feared bailiff is found murdered. The young man claims to be innocent, but when the
police finds out that the victim is his father, a compelling love story unfolds.
Rotterdam, late twenties. People pass a rundown, but still
impressive house, that stands out on a poor neighborhood canal street. Inside, a body,
lying on the floor, dead. In the hallway a young man, gasping for breath, bleeding. He
panics and flees, but is recognized and later on arrested by the police. The detective on
duty is intrigued by the murder and the relationship between the suspect and his apparent
victim. During the interview a story of life and death unfolds.
The famous Dutch novel "Character" by F.
Bordewijk tells the brilliant story of the handsome, introvert, but extremely ambitious
Katadreuffe. Despite his poor background, he is determined to make something out of his
life . . .
Top
 |
MIKE VAN DIEM - Director A former student of Dutch Language and Literature, Mike van Diem
(born,1959) first started to develop his directorial talent in the student theater by
staging classic plays like "Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf" and "Bride in
the Morning".
A movie buff since his early teens, he quit university to
work as a film critic before enrolling at the Dutch Film and Television Academy, in 1987.
He graduated after writing and directing the 45 minute psychological thriller ALASKA, the
first student film ever to win the "Golden Calf", the Dutch Oscar for best short
film of the year. Praised for its outstanding cinematic technique and compelling, visual
narrative, the film won much international acclaim, such as the "Grand Prix du
Festival", Film Fin D'etides rencontres Henri Langlois in Tour 1990. In the USA,
ALASKA won the Student Academy Award and reached wide industry attention after
spellbinding audiences during the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. |
During 1993 and 1994 Mike van Diem once more proved his
visual strength while helming the prestigious Dutch TV Series "Called to the
Bar". The much acclaimed series, an offbeat mixture of "Thirty Something"
and "LA Law", also earned him a solid reputation as an actors' director and
further paved the way for a feature length debut.
In 1995 writer-director Mike van Diem and producer Laurens
Geels teamed up to transform their favorite classic Dutch novel "Character" into
a compelling screenplay. In 1998 CHARACTER won an Oscar for "Best Foreign Language
Film".
Top