Zus & zo

I had promised myself to see every Dutch movie there is, after seeing the wonderful "Spoorloos" and "Soldaat Van Oranje". Zus & Zo came up as the first Dutch movie I found on DVD with English subtitles, and I couldn't miss it. Well, good thing I didn't. I enjoyed every single frame of it. It's really light, yet close to being a masterpiece. It's not the least bit surprising that this movie was nominated for an Academy Award, it's really great. By the way, I don't want to mislead anyone: It has absolutely nothing to do with the two movies in question, it's 100% different. I just mean it's *almost* as fantastic as they are.

Zus & Zo is not exactly about gays, nor is it about family hardships; it's mostly about feelings and true love. The pure feelings of two men for each other, and the not so pure feelings of 3+1* women for money.(*One of the women is a little more "innocent"; the sisters, however, are not quite that pleasant.*) But the ending comes such that you do not end up hating the women in question. That's for me to say, the rest is for you to watch. And DO watch it, you won't be disappointed. I repeat: It's not a movie for gays, I liked it very much as a straight guy. And Monique Hendrickx is a goddess. I'll marry her when I grow up ;-) I just had to add that!

8.5 out of 10 for Zus & Zo.

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.

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.

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.

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".