My mom kind of forced me to go see Bride Flight, a Dutch movie that her old friend Norman recommended. The idea sounded awful. The title even worse. (I thought it was about runaway brides). But....turns out that it's a brilliant movie that was out in the Netherlands in 2008 and has just made its way to the US. It's not playing in NY and I've no idea if it ever did, but it's here in South Florida and I'm glad for it.
A few years after the end of WWII three young Dutch women and one young Dutch man (who lived in Indonesia while it was still a Dutch colony) meet on a flight to New Zealand, where the four of them are relocating to start new lives. The women are married or about to marry men who are strangers or virtual strangers to them. One of the women lost her whole family to the Nazis. One is utterly attracted to the young man but is already committed to another Dutchman awaiting her in New Zealand. The four on the plane's lives are intertwined for the next 40 or 50 years (I'm not sure). The movie moves back and forth between the present and the past and is wonderfully acted by the young and old actors.
The US reviews I've just checked out are incredibly stupid. If you want more measured and more intelligent reviews read those on the imdb--there's only one negative review.
This is a romance (or many romances) yet it appeals to men and women. The context of the movie: religiosity, Jews who survived the camps, Dutch who survived being Japanese POWS, identity,
secrets, home.
The movie won a best movie award in the Netherlands. If you can find it in your city (or rent it on DVD) do so. It might be on netflix eventually (it's got a "save" by the title).
A few years after the end of WWII three young Dutch women and one young Dutch man (who lived in Indonesia while it was still a Dutch colony) meet on a flight to New Zealand, where the four of them are relocating to start new lives. The women are married or about to marry men who are strangers or virtual strangers to them. One of the women lost her whole family to the Nazis. One is utterly attracted to the young man but is already committed to another Dutchman awaiting her in New Zealand. The four on the plane's lives are intertwined for the next 40 or 50 years (I'm not sure). The movie moves back and forth between the present and the past and is wonderfully acted by the young and old actors.
The US reviews I've just checked out are incredibly stupid. If you want more measured and more intelligent reviews read those on the imdb--there's only one negative review.
This is a romance (or many romances) yet it appeals to men and women. The context of the movie: religiosity, Jews who survived the camps, Dutch who survived being Japanese POWS, identity,
secrets, home.
The movie won a best movie award in the Netherlands. If you can find it in your city (or rent it on DVD) do so. It might be on netflix eventually (it's got a "save" by the title).
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