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| Plot Synopsis Dutch filmmaker Paula van der Oest spins this frothy comedy about the ends to which three sisters would go to keep possession of the family's summer home in Portugal. When their 32-year-old brother, Nino, announces his engagement with his younger girlfriend, Bo, his three siblings react not with congratulatory happiness but with shocked indignation instead. For one thing, Nino was gay for most of his teens and twenties; and another, if he gets married then he inherits the summer villa. The three sisters are united by two traits: they each have vivid interior fantasy worlds - often involving having sex with the other's husbands - and they each dream of retiring to Portugal. Starving artist Wanda wants to open a gallery there, while writer Sonja dreams of living there with her husband. Michelle, the eldest, wants to flee her hectic domestic life as a housewife and mother to open a home for war orphans. Together, they cheerfully connive to undermine the engagement, as Bo invites them to Portugal to help plan the wedding. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. - Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide Reviews CHRITOPHER NULL Filmcritic.com If nothing else, Zus & Zo proves how easy it is for a movie to get a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. It's cute and quaint, a Hannah and Her Sisters done up Euro-style, which invariably means these days that someone is gay. Sure enough, our gay fella is getting married, and his three sisters will stop at nothing to end the travesty because an inheritance is at stake. Regardless, it's not terribly clear why. The girls don't seem to be able to muster an emotion about anything else, but for some reason a dying hotel merits their attention. That they intervene by trying to tempt bro with another guy is what makes it movie-worthy, though wouldn't a nice note or lunch with the fiancee to try to get her to call it off have made more sense? Zus & Zo has plenty of cute little touches, but it's neither a masterpiece nor overwhelmingly funny. Like many romantic comedies these days, Zus & Zo (I somehow missed what the title was supposed to mean) tries to wow you with hopelessly pathetic supporting characters instead of telling a story that resembles anything truly new. KEN FOX TV Guide - Movie Guide Three determined sisters fight their younger brother for possession of a picturesque seaside hotel in this likeable Dutch comedy, which has quite a bit to say about relationships between - and within - the sexes. Frustrated journalist Sonja (Monic Hendrickx) has made a career of penning spicy magazine columns about women's sexual fantasies, but she'd much rather write a serious piece about her often-strained relationships with older sisters, Wanda (Anneke Blok) and Michelle (Sylvia Poorta). Multi-media artist Wanda works with bodily fluids - she's currently collecting semen for an upcoming installation - and dreams about one day owning her own gallery. Thirty-eight year-old Michelle, the eldest, is a charity minded housewife who's filled her home with an assortment of foster children and refugees from around the world. Despite their disparate life goals, the sisters are united in a common cause when they get the shocking news that their baby brother, Nino (Jacob Derwig), is getting married. They're not shocked just because they all know Nino is thoroughly gay, but because their late father's will clearly stipulates that Nino will become the sole owner of the Paraiso, the family-owned hotel on the coast of Portugal, if and when he gets over this silly gay nonsense and gets properly married. The sisters assume Nino's marriage to the beautiful Bo (Halina Reijn) is a sham and a scam, and are determined to sabotage the nuptials and save their beloved hotel. Their own love lives, meanwhile, are falling apart around them. Wanda is having an impulsive affair with Sonja's husband, Hugo (Theu Boermans), who suspects he has V.D., while Sonja has her eye on Jan (Jaap Spijkers), the doctor who's married to Michelle but has loved Sonja for ages. Nino, meanwhile, pines secretly for his ex-boyfriend Felix (Pieter Embrechts), a sexy and successful celebrity chef with his own TV show and a permanent place in his heart for the groom to be. Sharply written and directed by Paula van der Oest and superbly acted by its three leading ladies - Hendrickx, Blok and Poorta actually make these selfish harridans likeable - this winning comedy joyfully embraces every possible permutation of love; cupid, it turns out, is indeed blind, and doesn't care much about gender either. The film, the Netherlands' official submission for the 2002 Academy Awards, is already slated for a big-screen Hollywood remake, but the fortuitous combination of actors, direction and screenplay leaves little, if any, room for improvement. Awards Best Foreign Language Film (nom) - 2002Academy |
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| ZUZ & ZO 2001 - Netherlands - 105 min. - Feature, Color AKA - This and That (Eng. Translation title) Director - Paula Vander Oest |
| Genre / Type - Comedy, Romantic comedy, Gay & Lesbian Films Flags - Sexual Situations, Adult Situations MPAA Rating - NR Keywords - engagement, inheritance, villa, country-home, wedding plans Themes - Wedding Bells, Sibling Relationships, Inheritance at Stake Sound by - Dolby Digital Produced by - Filmprodukties De Luwte Released by - Lifesize Entertainment / RCV Entertainment DVD Street Date - Jul 8, 2003 Language - Dutch Subtitles - English Sound - Dolby Digital Surround, PCM Mono Studio - Fox Lorber Dvd Sides - 1 Features 16 x 9 Letterboxed (1.85:1) Dolby Digital 5.1Surround Sound Trailers English subtitles Cast Sylvia Poorta - Michelle Anneke Blok - Wanda Monic Hendrickx - Sonja Jacob Derwig - Nino Halina Reijn - Bo Jaap Spijkers - Jan Theu Boermans - Hugo Pieter Embrechts - Felix Delicious Annet Nieuwenhuyzen - Mother |
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