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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I watched this with my wife because she is sensitive and intellectual. I was left in a stooper. My eyes glazed over and then rolled up into the back of my head. I could not stay awake. I love my wife. She is the love of my life. The fact that I would even attempt to sit in one place for the entire movie is evidence of my willingness to endure great suffering on her behalf.I am now told that I need to write 10 lines of text in order for my review to be post-worthy. I have a life. Why am I doing this? I can tell you why, because I thought it would be fun and easy. Now, it has become an endurance test - just like the movie. I am going to bed now. I need to sleep.By the way, my wife really loved the movie... and I love her... and she loves me. I guess that is what tolerance is all about.
I am usually a bit hesitant towards film versions of books I read and loved. Somehow not every story is fit for the silver screen. This movie however really catches the emotions of the book, without becoming annoyingly over sentimental. The acting is very good, the camera work and use of warm colors was beautiful, and the characters for me really came to life.I will not explain the story, go read the book and see the movie for yourself, or read some of the other comments on this site. One thing I missed on this site is the connection to the book. The adaptation of the book is done really well. Only two differences stand out, but these were well chosen and agreed with the movie format.*possible Spoilers*The fist is when Chaja and her best friend go out swimming and her friend finds out that Chaja is Jewish. After this their friendship ends in the book as well as in the movie. The difference is that in the movie both girls are naked, one can see how similar they are biologically, and the idea that it should matter what religion anyone of them is part of becomes totally insignificant. In the book the characters had much more time for development and for the movie the visualization of the human body says more than a thousand words.The other more major change is the end of the story. In the book there is much attention to philosophy and Chaja's difficulty with the choice of her study. She begins a new study, Physics, to start over again with new hope. Her father gives up his search for the past, and learns to live with his loss. The movie ends with Chaja helping her father in his search for the lost luggage. This change of ending was in my opinion necessary. In the movie we see little of Chaja's college life and her key problems concerning her own philosophy on life. In the book there is more space for these developments, and we understand the changes Chaja's goes through better. Keeping the original ending would have been cause for lack of understanding on behalf of the audience that has not read the book. I would recommend this movie to anyone. 9/10
This story is one of the most compelling and tragic that I have ever seen. I felt very emotional watching it; it was definitely a sure tear-jerker. I saw it on Cinemax last night, and was immediatedly absorbed. I recommend that you rent it.
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.