Oesters van Nam Kee

I can't say much for the movie on its own, as I prepared for seeing it (and seeing Katja... hmmm) by reading the book first.

The book on its own is done quite well; the novel of an adolescence, his dual life, his frustration with love and the way he tries to struggle through life isn't all that bad. When watching the movie, though, it became apparent to me that almost all of those motives/themes are lost.

The casting is done well - both main characters (Katja Schuurman - I only know her acting from a Dutch theatre-play, and Egbert Jan Weeber, whom I only know from "Van God Los") are especially fit for the role they play.

The movie by itself (without knowledge of the book) must be confusing to most or seem like scenes loosely put together. It might have been maimed in the editing, or perhaps the screenwriter has a different view on how to construct a movie then I do. They tried hard to show the all-consuming character of the relationship by putting in a few very steamy sex-scenes, but ended up doing what just every other dutch movie does: profiling itself just because of those sex-scenes (which is what other comments point out quite clearly). Which is a shame, since the original story behind it is quite a bit more. Well, not Tolstoi, but OK :-)

There are so many flaws in this film, watching its premiere was an almost painful experience. I fear it will be a local (Dutch) hit though, for the simple reason that Katja Schuurman gets naked in it. But even her wonderful exterior is severely tainted by the lack of any plausible plot, the unbearable flatness of ALL the characters, the often stupendous and completely unconvincing dialogue, the overdose of superfluous shots, the dragging scenes, and the whole b*lshit of it all. Words fail me. In Dutch filmhistory (already far from flawless), this is an alltime low. It should be deleted and forgotten.

Unlike stated earlier it is not true that nightclubdancer Thera OD's. She has been epileptic since childhood, and she is convinced Berry will leave her because of that, so to prevent that she leaves him before he can hurt her. Also their lifestyle with a lot of drinking and dancing is bringing out the epilepsia, so Thera's mother is also pushing Berry away, and after a while he is unable to contact her. Thera decides what's best for him, and he is unable to understand and goes crazy.

The acting in this movie is great, especially Thera (Katja Schuurman) and Berry (Egbert-Jan Weeber). It is no surprise that in real life they started a (short) romance after filming 'de oesters van Nam Kee', it shows in the movie that something real is going on between them.

Although the fine acting Thera and Berry can't save this movie. The script is not convincing and some of the things happening are so surprising that they become too made up.

And it left me with a sad feeling afterwards. That is one thing where the movie succeeds. To loose your first big and true love is traumatic.

Well Katja looks nice ,great body thats all if you ask me a typical dutch movie sex in it obvious ,well and a bit of a story thats all if you ask me i felt almost at sleep but some people may like it anyway judge your self ,but be warned it is a dutch movie so more sex and stuff like that than a story...to bad .

the critiques for this film were terrible. having read the book (which I personally think is terrible too) i was surprised. The film is not terrible. Although this 'feature film' looks a bit too much like a tv-series and the script and dialogues and acting are not good at all, in general i found the film to be entertaining and not boring or annoying as everyone said. There is even one really great thing about this film: The soundtrack by Arling & Cameron.