Antonia's Line (Sub)

Starring:Willeke van Ammelrooy, Els Dottermans, Dora van der Groen, Veerle van Overloop, Esther Vriesendorp, Carolien Spoor, Thyrza Ravesteijn, Mil Seghers, Jan Decleir, Elsie de Brauw, Reinout Bussemaker, Marina de Graaf, Jan Steen, Catherine ten Bruggencate, Paul Kooij, Fran Waller Zeper, Leo Hogenboom, Flip Filz, Wimie Wilhelm, Dirk Zeelenberg
Director: Marleen Gorris
Studio: First Look Pictures
Product Type: DVD

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To a small Dutch town filled with characters known by such names as Crooked Finger, Loony Lips, and the Mad Madonna, Antonia returns with her daughter Danielle after 20 years away. Covering the next 40 years, Antonia's Line looks at the matriarch and her offspring, stretching out to her great-granddaughter, Sarah. A whimsical story with fairy-tale conventions, this movie deals with the cyclical nature of time as well as the strength of women. While this is not just a "woman's movie," men are regulated to the background in a story that tells of women breaking free of traditional roles. Surprisingly, this movie achieves a light-hearted tone while tackling serious subjects: small-town prejudices, rape, and suicide. Yet the drama's comedic heart shines through as Antonia collects a rather odd assortment of people, outsiders who become part of her extended family. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Antonia's Line is moving and beautiful, imparting a sense of hope and joy to the viewer. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews:

Antonia's Line.......2007-05-13

This is a charming story! Antonia has courage and heart, and she shows the strength women have. After seeing this film at a friends house, I immmediately went online and ordered my own copy. A must for my collection.

My favorite film of all time!.......2007-04-10

Although I'm not a fan of subtitles these days, this is a classic film that stands out as an exception. Set in the Dutch countryside, Antonia returns to her village from the city to raise her daughter. The film spans maybe 50 years and 4 generations of Antonia's lineage, both literal and figurative because, after all, it takes a village to raise a child. The film is a beautiful fable that illustrates that family is not just your given family (blood relatives), but also comprised of your chosen family--the community around you who are your friends, neighbors, teachers, and for better or worse, also, the town misfits. Each one of these individuals help shape an individual into who he/she becomes as an adult. While the film's theme is matriarchy-based, the message is universal. A feminist classic that I would give to every tween in my life--especially the girls.

Hard to like this film.......2007-02-14

I'm not going to disagree that your view on this film is likely to be colored by your gender. But those who claim that men who are less enthused about the film are motivated by revulsion of feminism or outright misogyny are off the mark. Nor is it about a "female sentiment" being expressed in the film; although perhaps for female audience members there is an affinity created in that the protagonists are female (and additional solidarity created by means of rape as a plot device). Rather I think women will much more appreciate the film's heavy emphasis on relationships - many men simply won't get the appeal. There is really no action in the film per se, but concentrates on material of high interest to women (relationships) and very little of what interests men (action, conflict, or any sort of event-driven activity). Think of this as the cinematic version of girlfriends having a baby or bridal shower - it will appeal to the women while the men could care less.

I would disagree that men are demonized in this film. Not surprising considering the "relationships" angle this film spends most of its time on. Males don't add significantly to the inter-relationships of the female characters, so the men are at best an irrelevancy. Again, think of the bridal shower - it's not so much about male-bashing so much as men are simply a complete afterthought to the point of the event. When men do take a role, it is at worst the villain, more typically simply the foil to showcase the female characters as self-sufficient and "liberated." Men aren't demeaned so much as the best a male can hope to be treated as a peer whom the women tolerate (and most often far less). When it comes to relationships, having a relationship with a male doesn't seem provide any joy, nor does absence.

Once the false male vs. female schism has been disposed of, the film's main problem is that the characters are so unlikable. The main character is shown to be remarkably shallow, self-centered, and not someone who I would want to relate in spite of her role as protagonist.

A scene of mean-spirited gossip from Antonia to her daughter opens the film as a means of introducing the cast. This is followed quickly with the pair attending her mother's deathbed, which showcases Antonia displaying a complete lack of warmth or sense of loss. Indeed Antonia seems to be annoyed at the continued existence of her mother and their interaction is closer to insult and scorn - so much for casting her as a likable character.

Much of the film follows this same arc. Derision of religion and faith is served up repeatedly, although Antonia and family make a point of attending church (evidently the better to enable humor at the priest's and church's expense later on). An older gentleman who attempts to romantically woo Antonia is rebuffed but allowed to perform chores for her, and later bed her as a return favor (although she pointedly refuses marriage). Antonia's daughter asks to conceive a child and hiding the birth from the father, and receives Antonia's help (she sits outside drinking tea with the matchmaker as the sex takes place). Pregnancy does occur and causes the priest to issue a condemning sermon for the unwed mother, which leads to a plot to blackmail the priest who dutifully changes the sermon next week.

Fast forward a few years (with the obligatory and oft-repeated prattle about "and so seasons passed, and life continued on..."). Antonia has a granddaughter child-prodigy whose female teacher is quickly seduced by Antonia's daughter. The granddaughter gets served up heaping helpings of nihilism and atheism by another character (Crooked Finger), although the child's studies are hampered by the noise of the lovemaking of her mother, grandmother, and several other characters. The first of two rapes occurs at this point as well.

In later scenes, the granddaughter gets pregnant and a lively debate occurs at the family dinner table as to whether she should abort or keep the baby. I'm not a prude, but find this entire scene rather distasteful. The reaction of Antonia and the other main characters to news of the pregnancy seems remarkably detached at this turn of events and a second rape, which is another underlying current of this movie. The main characters seem willing to passively accept bad events occurring to others and will materially support them, but have no emotional, moral, or spiritual core to provide to the sufferer. After all, when your point of view on life is that "this is the only dance we dance," what can you really offer the other person when their waltz partner stomps her toes? Likewise, there is no sense of loss, grief, or regret portrayed when hard choices present themselves - for an example, see the dinner table abortion debate above, which is handled with the same degree of gravity as "should I wear the blue or black shoes today?" One choice is as good as any other, so long as Antonia can continue to host her dinner parties.

And on the movie goes, and the premises lead to their natural conclusions, such as the suicide of Crooked Finger (he of the nihilistic philosophy bent). After all, if one takes at face value the points the film makes (life is a tragedy, there is no God, etc), then how can one turn around and feel sorrowful that the characters are living (and dying) according to their own lights? Of course, I suppose this means that Antonia has one less dinner guest.

The values of the entire film leave a bitter taste in your mouth and you start wishing for someone to show genuine emotional, spiritual, and moral growth. As the film slogs on however, that lack of any character being willing to address anything bigger than the immediate, carnal, and baser concerns becomes what makes it impossible to enjoy.

"I hope you die in peace, mother. Though that is unlikely.".......2006-08-29

"Antonia's Line" is an unforgettably sincere, quickly moving and always compelling tale of a small Dutch town and an incredible woman who chronicles the lives of deceptively simple, but actually very complex characters. This is just quality film; from beginning to end we are swept into the sometimes grand and sometimes pathetic plights of characters with colorful names like Looney Lips (a mentally handicapped farmhand who is rescued by Antonia from a sociopathic pedophile along with his equally challenged sibling), Crooked Finger (a Schopenhauerian philosopher, bibliophile and absolute recluse who descends further and further into depression), and of course Antonia herself, an independent and free spirited woman who wants to give her daughter, Therese, the chance to experience a life of independent choices without the dictates of men.

Apparently the feminist sentiments expressed in the film have caused some male viewers to grow embittered and insecure. It didn't really bother me that much. The real world is not like this, and nowhere on earth would you find such a politically correct arrangement. It is a MOVIE, and a great one at that.

And Danielle's granddaughter! An ingenious metaphysician who talks about the existence or non-existence of God with the ill-fated Crooked Finger at age 5, this actress' performance was phenomenal. Even when she is in the act of giving birth she has a book in her hands.

The important quality this possesses is the complete lack of artificiality. Life is just how it is, with all the ups and downs, and to these natural beings too much thinking is a negation of life (finally given complete expression by Crooked Finger's suicide). Not the feminism, but this was the only thing that bothered me about the movie: the anti-intellectualism. Analysis is poison, apparently.

This deserved every award it got. I saw it awhile ago and haven't forgotten a thing. Highly recommended.

strong women do not a strong movie make ..........2006-08-03

a good soap opera about a single mother in a small town in post-ww2 holland, and the lives of her family and friends over half a century. worthy.

Average customer rating:

Antonia's Line
My favorite film of all time!
Hard to like this film
"I hope you die in peace, mother. Though that is unlikely."
strong women do not a strong movie make ...

Antonia's Line
Starring: Willeke van Ammelrooy , Els Dottermans , Dora van der Groen , Veerle van Overloop , and Esther Vriesendorp
Director: Marleen Gorris
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 630557006X
Release Date: 1999-10-12

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Customer Reviews:

Antonia's Line.......2007-05-13

My favorite film of all time!.......2007-04-10

Hard to like this film.......2007-02-14

"I hope you die in peace, mother. Though that is unlikely.".......2006-08-29

strong women do not a strong movie make ..........2006-08-03

a good soap opera about a single mother in a small town in post-ww2 holland, and the lives of her family and friends over half a century. worthy.

Antonia`s Line ~ Oscar Winning Original Version [Import, All-region] (Dvd)

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Antonia`s Line ~ Oscar Winning Original Version [Import, All-region] (Dvd)
Director: Marleen Gorris
Manufacturer: Sky Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Features:

A motion picture that celebrates everything you love about life.
Winner of the 1995 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and many of the most prestigious international film honors,
"The experience of the film lulls us into a strange and wonderful mood. The filmmaker, Marleen Gorris, believes women have innate understanding and common sense, and that, left to run things, they will right wrongs and encourage sanity." ROGER EBERT
This is the ORIGINAL theatrical version envisioned by the director.
Import from Korea made for the USA/Canada/Korea (NTSC, All-Region).

ASIN: B000N9A8DW

Product Description

Winner of the 1995 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and many of the most prestigious international film honors, Antonia's Line is an inspiring and uplifting masterpiece, as big hearted and full of life as the unforgettable character at its heart. At the end of the Second World War, a spirited, independent woman returns to the place of her birth, a small village in the verdant Dutch countryside, to start a new life with her young daughter. Thus begins a remarkable portrait of a family and a community of mothers and daughters, and of one indomitable woman. Earthy, sexy, romantic, filled with laughter and warmth, its a joyous celebration of simple pleasures and enduring passions. Lived by Antonia and learned by all in her lineage, it's a legacy of life and love that spans five generations.

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ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005M04N

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