Left Luggage (1998)
While escaping from Nazis during the WWII, a Jewish man dug suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground two. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the suitcases, which makes him look obsessed. He keeps checking old maps and keeps digging, trying to find, in fact, those he lost. His daughter Chaya is a beautiful modern girl looking for a part-time job. She finds a place as a nanny in the strictly observant Chassidic family with many children, although her secular manners clearly fly in the face of many commandments. One of the reasons she is accepted is that mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the household, so she stays despite the resistance of the father, normally - an indisputable authority in the family. She develops a special bond with the youngest of the boys, four-year old Simcha, so far incapable of speaking.
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To me, this movie is perfection.
One of my all time favorites.
From my favorite movies..
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
First of all Left luggage is a movie about a Jewish family in the 70's that lives in Antwerp and a girl named Chaya. The parents of the Jewish family are very strict.Chaya is also Jewish and her parents are survivors from a concentration camp, she doesn't have a good relationship with them. Her parents aren't strict at all.When Chaya is looking for a job, she gets in contact with the Jewish family, because they need a nanny to help in their household. The family has 5 children and Chaya loves the 5 year old, who has never spoken in his life. She learns him to speak and to feed the ducks. It is sad when the boy dies because she was getting so close to him.In my opinion the movie isn't as bad as it seems. Al the actors play their roles perfectly and you will also learn some of the Jewish habits in the households and on funerals.I would give this movie a 6/10, just because some scenes are difficult to follow.
A moving and poignant film which raises many important issues. A Holocaust theme, but ultimately a story of all our lives. Some strong but subtle symbolism. The acting is for the most part excellent (great to see Chaim Topol again. Older, but still Tevye). Isabella Rosselini is a very credible Chassid wife and mother. The locations are beautifully shot, and the score (when I could hear it)was appropriate. That's the big issue though - why was the sound in this film so uneven, and often inaudible?? Frequently, had the TV at volume levels somewhere in the "red zone". I don't think it was the DVD - it actually seemed as if it was shot this way. Made me wish that there were English subtitles. Was it just me??
I cannot add anymore than the mostly marvelous reviews from the contributors overseas. The cast was wonderful and Isabella Rossellini's resemblance to her mother, Ingrid Bergman is startling. Even their voices have a similarity. I am most disturbed that the picture,at this, time has such a limited distribution in the U.S.
I know, I stick my neck out with that summary, but this was one of those rare movies that genuinely surprised me. I flicked onto it by accident and it seemed interesting, and I am so pleased I saw it - and I will be watching it many times again in the future. Laura Fraser, who I haven't seen in many other movies (certainly none as memorable as this), is simply astounding in her performance as a modern Jewish girl confronted by an old-fashioned Jewish family in the 1970s. She befriends a young boy and becomes very attached to him. This relationship, I felt, was built in a genuinely heartwarming way.Laura Fraser is not the only surprise - there is also the performances of Maximilian Schell and Isabella Rosselini, not to mention the great supporting cast of adults and many children.To bring this theme into a 'modern' setting (and though the film is set in the 70s it could almost be today) is a difficult task, and this film not only succeeds, it shines. If you happen to fall upon this movie, don't pass it by because you wouldn't want to miss it.