Zus & zo

this movie is about a gay guy, Nino and his upcoming wedding, consisting of his 3 deranged sisters, his fake fiancée Bo, his ex-boyfriend Felix and a range of oddball characters. the plot centres more on the mess-uped lives of the 3 sisters and Nino himself. what strikes me as senseless, is that Felix, a gay man willing got back to his ex-boyfriend who would be undergoing sex change to become a woman. i am confused, is he gay or not? and why would a gay man want to have sex with a woman? as a straight man, i would never ever want to have sex with my wife or girlfriend after she have changed sex to become a man. is Nino a man or woman? the story plot is very hazy and jumbled up. all in all the characters are made to look like their lives revolve around sex and nothing much else.

This movie once again proves the viability of Dutch cinema. It has wit, pace and some very endearing and convincing characters. It shifts through both serious and lightweighted issues without ever losing balance, whilst maintaining a number of different viewpoints (right vs. wrong, true vs. untrue), and perhaps its highest achievement lies in the way it treats a taboo subject (which I will not reveal here) with daring and care. I was particularly touched by the way the two main themes of family and identity were brought to life. I left the cinema just wanting to see my brother and parents again and see how they were doing. It was that good.

Even in The Netherlands, Dutch movies hardly ever get the attention and number of viewers as movies from the United States. I don't know what the box office results for 'Zus & zo' finally will be. But it is very likely that the American remake (RCV bought the rights) of this movie will be more successful than the Dutch original.

This is unjust. 'Zus & zo' is a romantic comedy, with a soap like story-line, and is very funny, yet moving - and thus nothing like a soap at all. The timing of the actors - very important for a comedy - is good, as most actors know each other from the same theater company. Every character - both male and female - gets it's share of scepsis by sharp observation of their manners, yet the director managed to prevent over-the-top acting.

'Zus & zo' provides a real life mirror for everyone. Choose your own character to take 'example' from: one of the three jealous sisters in their thirties, not satisfied with their lives, but also not able to change it. Or one of the husbands, one addicted to women, or the other being a doormat suffering under his wife's hospitality for just about every one who needs help. Or the timid gay brother, marrying a woman (!) to inherit his parents summer residence in Portugal. Or the optimist (opportunist?) bride-to-be Bo, much more self-confident than the three sisters and apparently without a weak point.

Or just enjoy this tragi-comic portrait of a slightly derailed family.

Paula van der Oest's Academy Award-nominated "Zus & Zo" is a lighthearted comedy about events surrounding a wedding involving a gay man. The Netherlands was probably the most advanced country in terms of gay rights by the time that the movie came out, so I figure that there was no controversy about it (2001 in fact saw the establishment of marriage equality in the Netherlands). The movie itself isn't anything special. If you're expecting full-scale wacky comedy - i.e., what you get in a Will Ferrell movie - you won't find it here. This movie's all about the characters' interactions with each other and the issues surrounding the marriage. Not a great movie, but passable.

Co-star Halina Reijn, who plays Bo, later directed the 2022 thriller "Bodies Bodies Bodies".

an oscar nomination? why? this is first of all a play...not a movie. i don't think the people who made this ever heard of the "don't tell them, show them" concept. and if only the dialog was funny. but i didn't think it was. i missed the most important thing in this movie, the clear reason i should care (or understand) why the sisters wanted to stop the wedding. Yes, to keep the hotel. But why, other then for sentimental reasons, make such a big fight about it. There should have been a stronger reason for them to try and stop the wedding. All in all, it was a boring experience for me because i didn't care about (nor understood) the people and it just wasn't funny.