User Reviews

There are movies about the tension between secular and religious Jews, and movies about Holocaust survivors. This one is both.

Chaiyah, a Jewish college-aged woman in Antwerp, Belgium, couldn't care less about her family's stories, and she finds the Chasidim to be particularly weird. A child of the sexual revolution, she's concerned with having a good time.

Through a family friend, she finds a job as a nanny for a Chasidic family. Although she's ready to quit the first day, she quickly develops a — no, a kinship — with the youngest boy with severe emotional difficulties. The boy, Simcha, can't speak, even though he's four, and when he's under pressure, he wets himself. Chaiyah brings him out. He begins talking, and even sings the Mah Nishtanah at the Seder.

The film shows us reasons for the Chasidic father's seeming aloofness to the youngest son, overt and less than overt anti-Semitism in Europe ("You don't look Jewish.") , and the ways the older generation has of dealing or coping with the past.

As the film progresses, Chaiyah becomes bonded with her people, which I think is the meaning of the final scene.

Some of the scenes can't really be appreciated without an understanding of Jewish culture and practice. I think this is particularly true of one of the late scenes between the two main women characters. It really floored me.

It's a real tear-jerker, but it's not without its happy moments.

In 1972, in Antwerp, Chaya (Laura Fraser) is a liberal Jewish student of philosophy living alone. Her father (Maximiliam Schell) spends his time trying to find two pieces of luggage he buried in the Second World War, like he could bring his past back. Her mother (Marianne Saegebrecht) spends her time preparing cakes and sewing, trying not to think in life. In order to raise some money to pay for her rent, Chaya accepts to work as the nanny of two twin babies in an orthodox Jewish home, recommended by her friend Mr. Apfelschnitt (Chaim Topol) to the babies' parents, Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rossellini) and Mr. Kalman (Jeroen Krabbé). Indeed Chaya feels some kind of affection for their four years old son Simcha (Adam Monty), a boy with serious emotional problems and without speech. Meanwhile, the concierge of the building (David Bradley) is a fascist who hates Jews and Chaya faces him without fear. The story has a very tragic end. This film is a very sad story about losses. The direction and performances of the cast are magnificent. Just as a curiosity, the Brazilian distributor LK-Tel Video wrote the following information in the front cover of the video: `Critics of the site www.imdb.com * As Good As The Schindler's List* ` I noted they used part of the comment made by the user `Sailor Leila (sailor-leila@shomar.co.uk) York, England', who wrote: `In its own way, almost as good as Schindler's List'. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Amor e Dor' (`Love and Pain')

The movie starts with a father telling his young daughter Chaya the story of how he had to escape from the Germans carrying everything he had in only two suitcases. Eventually, he had to bury the suitcases because he couldn't carry them any more as he kept running from place to place.

The loud rock music and the protests reminiscent of 1960s America tell us times have changed. And despite the somber opening, the movie takes a comic turn rather quickly, though it is far from a comedy.

In 1972 Antwerp, Chaya is a sweet, pretty 20-year-old philosophy student who does have a temper when riled. She quits her latest job at a restaurant after a prank (if you don't care for 'Fear Factor' and you have the ability to fast-forward, use it here).

Chaya visits her parents and finds out her father has still not given up on finding his suitcases. He has a map, but the area has changed so much. She is getting tired of hearing the story. Meanwhile, her kindly mother continues baking cakes. We also find out later she is making waterproof blankets with a loom.

With her landlady frustrated about all the delays with receiving rent money, Chaya must find a job soon. Mr. Apfelschnitt knows of a job as a nanny with a Hasidic family, the Kalmans. Chaya, despite being Jewish by birth, claims to hate Jews (though she is good friends with Mr. Apfelschnitt, who wears a yarmulke). But her desperation leads her to try.

Hasidic Jews are like the Amish and the Mennonites in Christianity--very strict, shunning many modern conveniences. And the minute she arrives at the third-floor apartment, Mrs. Kalman starts explaining those rules. Her husband's bedroom is off-limits, for example. And Chaya should dress like a woman; she is wearing jeans. Among the family's five children is Simcha, who is four but has never talked, but he and Chaya immediately make a connection.

The rules become too much for Chaya and she quits, but she accidentally takes something with her that belongs to the Kalmans, and she must return it. When she sees Simcha again, she knows she can't leave.

Chaya must work through the difficulties of life in the Hasidic culture, among other problems. One of her obstacles is the evil concierge, who constantly claims the elevator is out of order. In fact, he hates Jews with a passion and doesn't want them to ride it. He calls them lazy, ranting about how HE has to work. His only friend seems to be his dog. The concierge's evil behavior provides the film with many of its comic moments.

Eventually, Chaya makes a breakthrough with Simcha, as Annie Sullivan did. But her modern attitude is out of place here, and her desire to see people treated with respect is not appreciated. Also, she is called a 'Gomer' (meaning harlot, though a stronger word was used) when she finally dresses like a woman. In 1972, a lot of women wore scandalously short skirts.

A tragedy threatens to keep this movie from having a happy ending. The event does offer more insights into Hasidic culture, though, and leads to some good acting and writing. The last scene with dialogue is a happy and even humorous one, though, but this is followed by depressing music and scenery that reminds us of change.

If this movie had been done in the language of the people depicted, I believe it would have been worthy of a foreign-language Oscar. Being in English, it probably had too much competition that was better-known. But Laura Fraser did a fine job as Chaya. She showed such charm and such determination, and effectively showed us many emotions.

Adam Monty made an immediate impression as the young Simcha, giving a winning performance even without saying a word, and still impressing once he talked. The movie's best scenes were those with him and Chaya.

Topol also did a fine job as Mr. Apfelschnitt. Everyone in a leading role gave a good performance--Maximilian Schell as Chaya's father, Isabella Rossellini as the Hasidic mother particularly. I will also single out Jeroen Krabbe as the Hasidic father, who could be loving and even happy despite his often strict and often angry demeanor. But his best moment came as he described what happened to his family during World War II.

I also must mention David Bradley as the concierge, who actually showed a human side.

Was this a family movie? Perhaps. There were a few dirty words, and references to the promiscuity of Chaya's roommate, but maybe this was not any worse than two episodes of '7th Heaven'. There was also a skinny-dipping scene with Chaya and her roommate, but we didn't really get to see anything (unless this was edited for TV).

There are references to the Holocaust, and one really scary moment with the concierge, though it is followed by the funniest moment in the movie.

The educational value of the film may outweigh other considerations. We learn a lot more about the Hasidic than I ever knew, and as depicted here, they are not the uptight people some believe them to be, despite all their rules.

This was an outstanding effort.

¨Left Luggage¨ is an interesting drama about human relationships , humanism but also tragedy . While getting away from Germans during the WWII, a Jewish man named Mr. SilberSchmidt (Maximilian Schell)- married an understanding woman (Mariane Sagebrecht)- dug baggage full of precious objects dear to his heart in the soil. The war deprived him of his parents and brothers, and nowadays , Amberes 1972, he endlessly seeks underground to encounter the luggage. His daughter named Chaya (Laura Frazer) is a likable young girl opposed to the observant Jewish and she is seeking a part-time job. Thanks Yakov (Chaim Topol) she encounters a job as a nanny in the strictly observant Chassidic family formed by a rigid father (Jeroen Krabbe) and a mother (Isabella Rossellini) with five children . One of the reasons Chaya is accepted is that mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the homework, so she stays in spite of the family head's wrath. She establishes a special relationship to the four-year old Simcha, so far incapable of speaking. Chaya teaches him while walking in the park, and Simcha suddenly imitates the duck's sounds and after he will be able to chant parts of the Haggadah. In the building the Jewish family and Chaya are continuously harassed by the porter (David Bradley).

This thought-provoking film deals with human feelings , love , compassion , sufferings, anti-semitism, familiar environments and many other things . Extraordinary casting who gives very good performances , as Laura Frazer as the young who develops a special bond with the youngest of the boys, Maximilian Schell as obsessed old man who looks for checking old maps and keeps digging, attempting to encounter his ancient suitcases, David Bailey as nasty pathetic anti-Semite caretaker , a repulsive porter who puts constant difficulties to Chassidic family and also for Chaya ; and of course Isabella Rossellini as understanding mother with some secular manners who faces his strict husband . This marvelous and warm film is stunningly directed by Jeroen Krabbe . Jeroen is a prestigious Dutch actor who has only directed two films with quite success and dramatics , this one and ¨The discovery of heaven¨ , both of then he also acted . Rating : Better than average. Worthwhile watching

Since I live in Israel, I've seen many films about the Hassidic community, but I've never seen a film that combines two of the heaviest subjects in Israeli society. The connection between the two main woman characters (Chaya and Mrs. Kalman), the connection in silence between Chaya and Mr. Kalman, and most important, the connection between Chaya and Simcha, which was nipped in the bud, we're all magnificently described. It also introduces the viewer to the closed worlds of both the Hassidics and the Holocaust Survivors. Excellent, touching and interesting.

"Left Luggage" is an interesting effort to deal with children of Holocaust survivors, not a common subject in films.

The child here is a vibrant, secular college student in 1970's Antwerp dealing with her haunted parents and her new employers, a Hassidic family.

It's an international co-production--Isabella Rossellini is actually creditable as the Hassidic mother and Maximillan Schell who has had a huge career playing Nazis is quite good as the unreligious Jewish father. It pushes too many, way too many schmaltzy buttons (yeah yeah, I cried about the adorable sort-of developmentally disabled kid that the young woman is the nanny for, but come on, and comparing reactions to the Nazis to standing up to a crazy, anti-Semitic elevator operator is a bit much).

The changes that the woman goes through relate mostly to her dealings with her parents and they with her, though the changes she puts the Hassidic family through are more moving.

There's an indication of an impact on her own sense of Jewish identity when she finally declares herself Jewish to her gentile best friend and some impact on her romantic life when she kicks her leechy Marxist blond, blue-eyed boyfriend out of her bed, but that's more to do with her independent streak.

(originally written 10/22/2000)

I know, I stick my neck out with that summary, but this was one of those rare movies that genuinely surprised me. I flicked onto it by accident and it seemed interesting, and I am so pleased I saw it - and I will be watching it many times again in the future. Laura Fraser, who I haven't seen in many other movies (certainly none as memorable as this), is simply astounding in her performance as a modern Jewish girl confronted by an old-fashioned Jewish family in the 1970s. She befriends a young boy and becomes very attached to him. This relationship, I felt, was built in a genuinely heartwarming way.

Laura Fraser is not the only surprise - there is also the performances of Maximilian Schell and Isabella Rosselini, not to mention the great supporting cast of adults and many children.

To bring this theme into a 'modern' setting (and though the film is set in the 70s it could almost be today) is a difficult task, and this film not only succeeds, it shines. If you happen to fall upon this movie, don't pass it by because you wouldn't want to miss it.

I initially balked at watching this movie. However, after being persuaded to do so I was happily surprised.

Laura Fraser has done an excellent job in portraying a young woman who is a bridge between cultures.

Isabella Rossellini also does an good job as the mother.

All in all, a very good movie, and a nice surprise.

You have to like this kind of movies to fully appreciate this movie. It's a typical character drama, meaning that there is not really a story, in terms of having a beginning and an end, with in between a story that connects the beginning with the end but it more has a story that slowly and realistically develops, making the events in this movie realistic, documentary like occurrences.

The movie really relies on its characters, with a good result. The actors are all in top form and there are some well known names present in this movie, such as Oscar winner and multiple nominee Maximilian Schell, Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee Isabella Rossellini and also Academy Award nominee Topol, who in this movie is credited with his birth name Chaim Topol, an obvious Jewish name. Topol is perhaps best known to the general public for playing Milos Columbo in the James Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only" or for his role in the cult camp-classic "Flash Gordon". Also director Jeroen Krabbé himself plays a solid part in the movie, as well as the main character, played by the beautiful, talented, young and sadly (still) mostly unknown Laura Fraser.

The way the story is slowly told and developed is done nicely. It gives the movie a true heart and soul and gives the characters and events some real good emotions. The story focuses mainly on the first generation of Jews born after WW II. The emotions by the parents are still present and fresh, while the children just want to move on and don't want to look back at the past. As the story develops the perspective of the youth, through the eyes of the main character Chaya on the past and the Jewish culture changes of course.

The drama is strong and the story is solid. It however is obvious at times that Jeroen Krabbé isn't the most experienced movie director around. There are some minor weaknesses in the directing of some sequences but all in all most certainly not a bad directing debut for Krabbé, who will most likely grow more and more stronger in the near future with his directing skills.

And for the ones who are interested; The Nino this movie is dedicated to, was the nearly 2 year old baby boy of the screenwriter of this movie Edwin de Vries and well known Dutch actress Monique van de Ven, who died of meningitis.

8/10

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This movie looks like it was cooked up by some novice at film school who borrowed a script based on a twelve year old's homework entitled "tragedy".

Stereotypical in every characterisation and with cliche oozing out of every line of dialogue, the film limps from one cringe to the next. By the end - during the weepiest scene, I could be found on my knees in the aisle, holdind my aching sides and mouthing "please stop" whilst my wife dabbed her eyes with a tissue. I have rarely seen anything more amusing.

This film has a most unusual setting, the Chassidic community of Antwerp, Belgium. The protagonist is a young Jewish (but non-observant) woman, who gets a job taking care of the children of a Chassidic family, and has a humanising effect on all, of them, including the imposing and forbidding father, albeit with an unfortunate side effect.

The film's title refers to a sub-plot, in which the protagonist's father digs holes in various spots around Antwerp, seeking for some trunks of personal effects he buried while fleeing from the Nazis.

After the film was over, I realized a few flaws in the plot (Unlike one of your other reviewers, I did not find the nude swimming scene unpleasant at all. It serves nicely to contrast the protagonist's lack of inhibition with the sexual prudery of the Chassidim.). For one thing, the concierge of the building in which the Chassidic family lives is an anti-Semite, who constantly harasses the family. He denies them access to the elevator, blocks the stairs and even injures one of the children. Yet nobody thinks of complaining the the building's owner about him.

Also, the name of the protagonist is Chaya. Yet it never occurs to her best friend, until it comes up in conversation, that she might be Jewish.

I wanted to see this when it came out in the late 1990s, but thanks to the ridiculously limited distribution this movie had in the United States, I was unable to do so until late 2005 (it was my first 'netflick'). Be as it may, it was well worth the wait.

In short: there was really nothing about this movie I didn't like (except the nudity was not necessary and keeps this from being a movie the whole family could watch) Excellent characters (and I was NOT expecting to like "Chaya" at all!),excellent acting, excellent story teller, wonderful, brilliantly subtle film-making (especially the "window shot" towards the end)...overall, a wonderful, meaningful film that I am quite glad I was finally able to see!

Being Belgian, we always hate it when the Dutch do something better than us. Well, Jeroen Krabbe is both an actor and a director for which we have difficulty finding a match. Left Luggage is a movie about a girl (Chaya, played by the immensely beautiful Laura Fraser) that becomes a nanny in a ultra-orthodox family of Jews. Both her and the family need some adjusting to each other, but in the end they become very close and she is accepted into the family. Both her own parents as the father of the children she's supposed to watch have difficulties letting the past go, and the movie tells this in a subtle way.And of course, disaster strikes in the end, though in an unexpected way.

I'm not going to tell you the content of the movie, but it is very emotional, very gripping.

Try it. I give it an 8.

This is a brilliant film, astonishing, really. Laura Fraser is the most talented young actress in cinema today. She is simply fabulous as the start of "Left Luggage."

Stories about Hasidic Jews have made been made into several excellent films: "The Chosen" -- coincidentally also starring Maximilian Schell -- and "A Stranger Among Us" come immediately to mind. "Left Luggage" is by far the best.

I have just seen this film (October 2001) and strongly recommend it to anyone. What this film offers is a sensitive post holocaust view of European (Belgian) society, particularly centred on the emotional and psychological "baggage" of the "survivors" which succeeding younger generations must sort out and come to terms with. The gradual revelations mostly unfold in the mind and experience of a young Jewish girl whose personal integrity and spunk bring to the viewer a warm and sensitive understanding of the human damage which continues to shape much of Europe today. This film is reminiscent of a similar film, based on Edwin Mulisch's "The Assault" (Dutch experience), which is both a fascinating human mystery story and a document of social realism.

Lots of emoting. Plenty of tear jerking. The details, if they matter, involve an assimilated daughter of Holocaust survivors who gets a job with a Chassidic family. She forms emotional bonds. Tragedy ensues. The audience is supposed to cry, and probably would if anyone were still awake at the end of the movie.

The good part is the the actress in the lead is extremely attractive, sort of like a better looking version of Julia Roberts without the ridiculous plastic lips.

If you like repulsive chick flicks, you'll love this movie.

Saw this wonderful film at the Chicago Film Festival. Cast was excellent, story was thought-provoking...but the best element was the inspired direction by actor Jeroen Krabbe. It was truly visual poetry, and gut-wrenching at that.

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.

A moving and poignant film which raises many important issues. A Holocaust theme, but ultimately a story of all our lives. Some strong but subtle symbolism. The acting is for the most part excellent (great to see Chaim Topol again. Older, but still Tevye). Isabella Rosselini is a very credible Chassid wife and mother. The locations are beautifully shot, and the score (when I could hear it)was appropriate. That's the big issue though - why was the sound in this film so uneven, and often inaudible?? Frequently, had the TV at volume levels somewhere in the "red zone". I don't think it was the DVD - it actually seemed as if it was shot this way. Made me wish that there were English subtitles. Was it just me??

A touching film about people who have to live with a horrible past, different people who all try to live with this in their own way. The story is about the affection between a young girl, only lately getting in contact with her Jewish background and a young boy of an orthodox Jewish family. She joins this family as a nanny for the boy. Beautiful contrasts between the young liberal Chaja and the very traditional ways of the

family. Touching and humorous.

The characters are all played very well, in a mixed set-up of know and relative new actors.

Beautiful and worth seeing.

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.

Interesting examination of various human strategies for dealing with loss, whether the death of loved ones or the extermination of entire people's as in the Holocaust. Film has lots of heart, but may be a little pat in its approach. Two Jewish families in Antwerp deal badly with catastrophe. One tries to flee from everything Jewish into pure secular modernism. This leaves such an emptiness, that the head of the family doesn't know why he spends all his time combing the city for the place where he buried some family odds and ends before being deported during the war. The other family clings madly to orthodox Judaism as their only port in the storm and cuts themselves off narrow-mindedly and angrily from all that is new and different. Wise Mr. Apple-something, observes the Jewish rituals; attends synagogue devoutly, but is not too put off by a mini-skirt to show fondness and concern for the yearning soul inside.

So it's nice, OK?