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Reviews
Karakter (1997)
A face like no other
Jan Decleir's Dreverhaven is wonderful, as is the oddly sensuous Lorna te George (Tamar van den Dop). The faces in this film are especially marvelous, such as De Gankelaar (Victor Löw) and even the unmoving Joba (Betty Schuurman).
The plot twists nicely in this very Dutch unreligious tale of sin and redemption. The pitiful Jacob Katadreuffe (Fedja van Huêt) is a failure forever, to this father (who nonetheless gives him his fortune) and especially to his mother, who at last speaks in a flash of passion.
Even if the story were not as good as it is, the spectacular locations (especially the shots in Utrecht along the canal) are captivating.
I started watching out of curiosity to see a film in Dutch, and ended up discovering a well-wrought and convincing production of life between the World Wars -- where the ominous cloud of the second one could be felt infusing Katadreuffe's hope and te George's face.
DragonHeart (1996)
Opening scene used the Blood Countess castle
This may have been mentioned, but the opening scene of this film was shot at Cachtice, Slovakia (formerly Csejthe in pre-WWI Hungary). This is the main castle of Elizabeth (Erzsebet) Bathory, the Blood Countess, and where she was imprisoned until her death in 1614.
I was very surprised to see Csejthe Castle in the movie ... it's quite a hike up to the castle from the village below.