OYSTERS AT NAM KEE'S Pollo de Pimentel - Netherlands 2002. Berry leads a double-life; for his petty criminal friends he hides the fact that he is from the only upper-class street in the neighborhood, but he trusts Thera and tells her everything why shouldn't he? Desperate, he seeks the company of his old friends again and things go from bad to worse. The film got an unprecedented publicity campaign at the time, because the film's female lead Katja Schuurman was gonna shed her clothes, and - at the same time - posed naked in Playboy Magazine as Thera! After a pre-screening of the film many people apparently objected against the explicit nudity reputedly mostly Muslim girls and the makers immediately caved in and cut a number of scenes. Is it the morally conservative climate that seemed to have taken hold over Dutch society? Probably a carefully planned publicity stunt, a painful example of self-censorship, or just an exercise in bad taste. Too bad the whole affair was all for naught, because there's nothing of interest in the entire film. Badly scripted with some awful dialog, and some textbook examples of what NOT to do in a screenplay; for instance, when Berry's inner thoughts in the book are transferred as dialog in the film, with - off course - disastrous and sometimes hilarious results. I'd rather have some gratuitous exploitation flick with Katja Schuurman than this mess. It's a shame really, because she has an undeniable screen presence and is primarily a physical actress. Every movement she makes seems so effortlessly erotic. In this film it becomes tiresome because of the lousy story, but that's not really hers to blame. There must be plenty of roles for her, if you know how to use her talents. Hollywood is full of screen sirens, who are not trained or particularly gifted actresses, but Katja Schuurman is over thirty now, and nobody seems to know how to use her talents. I don't want to see his film again. Oesters is a fine novel, where the main character tell about the love of his life. Bit by bit you learn about the terrible things that he did. Bit by bit you got to know who he victim is. The sequences in prison. The last page where he stares out of the prison-window. They left it all out of the movie. Now is it just another coming of age movie like Mad Love, Ik ook van Jou, Betty Blue etc. And not a good one aswell. There are so many flaws in this film, watching its premiere was an almost painful experience. I fear it will be a local Dutch hit though, for the simple reason that Katja Schuurman gets naked in it. In Dutch filmhistory already far from flawless , this is an alltime low. It should be deleted and forgotten. I think this film has been cut to pieces. Having seen the deleted scenes which contained most of its psychological development I think the director chose speed over credibility. It seriously damages the movie. Sometimes you just don't have a clue why these characters do what they do. The storyline between Berry and his dad is amputated. The love story lacks development. In a commentary the director says that an uncut version including even less revealing sex scenes would've added up to almost three hours. On a DVD I might give that a try. Although it probably wouldn't make up for the acting. I loved to watch both Katja and Egbert, but they just weren't convincing enough. Except maybe for the bed scenes. But hey, it's a known fact that they were having these both on and off set. Not a good movie. But I liked looking at it anyway, in a silly Dutch way. I was one of the happy few to catch the first 35mm screening of Oesters. Recent rumours that some explicit sex scenes were deleted gave it the extra attention it needed. Yes needed cause the movie of its own isn't all that. I can't tell u to much cause the story is so thin i might give away everything and we wouldn't want that would we. In short, boy meets girl, they hit it of, girl wants to end it, boy gets obsessed with girl and does some very stupid things..... I didn't like it too much but if you want to see Katja naked it's the movie for u. She has been epileptic since childhood, and she is convinced Berry will leave her because of that, so to prevent that she leaves him before he can hurt her. Also their lifestyle with a lot of drinking and dancing is bringing out the epilepsia, so Thera's mother is also pushing Berry away, and after a while he is unable to contact her. Thera decides what's best for him, and he is unable to understand and goes crazy. The acting in this movie is great, especially Thera Katja Schuurman and Berry Egbert-Jan Weeber. It is no surprise that in real life they started a short romance after filming 'de oesters van Nam Kee', it shows in the movie that something real is going on between them. Although the fine acting Thera and Berry can't save this movie. The script is not convincing and some of the things happening are so surprising that they become too made up. And it left me with a sad feeling afterwards. That is one thing where the movie succeeds. To loose your first big and true love is traumatic. I can't say much for the movie on its own, as I prepared for seeing it and seeing Katja... The book on its own is done quite well; the novel of an adolescence, his dual life, his frustration with love and the way he tries to struggle through life isn't all that bad. The movie by itself without knowledge of the book must be confusing to most or seem like scenes loosely put together. It might have been maimed in the editing, or perhaps the screenwriter has a different view on how to construct a movie then I do. They tried hard to show the all-consuming character of the relationship by putting in a few very steamy sex-scenes, but ended up doing what just every other dutch movie does: profiling itself just because of those sex-scenes which is what other comments point out quite clearly. Which is a shame, since the original story behind it is quite a bit more. Well, not Tolstoi, but OK :- the critiques for this film were terrible. The film is not terrible. Although this 'feature film' looks a bit too much like a tv-series and the script and dialogues and acting are not good at all, in general i found the film to be entertaining and not boring or annoying as everyone said. Well Katja looks nice ,great body thats all if you ask me a typical dutch movie sex in it obvious ,well and a bit of a story thats all if you ask me i felt almost at sleep but some people may like it anyway judge your self ,but be warned it is a dutch movie so more sex and stuff like that than a story... Good acting, good music, nice shots of Amsterdam. Story of a 17-year old that goes to college Gymnasium but living in an environment of immigrant youth with a much less bright outlook on the future. He runs into a girl who turns out to be a club-dancer. But he falls in love, and so does she. It's just wonderful, and it should always be this way. But well, most of us are afraid of getting what we really dream of. So are these two young people. Well, this muse is easy to remember in spite of being among the oldest. I discovered Katja when she was a VJ on MTV show « So 9o's » starting 1997. Sure, she is cute but it was clear that she is also totally cool, always smiling, not sophisticated. In addition, she is dutch and she was speaking English and for my french ear, i could easily follow what she said! At first, she was on air every week day, then only on Sundays and then she disappeared without notice! I understood she was involved in a car crash! Next, i could watch her movie « Costa » and follow her career with internet! I know this « Oesters van Nam Kee » a long time before I watched it because it was the source for a lot of nude caps as Katja plays a stripper with a big heart! It's also funny to notice that the movie features her real Playboy shoot as well! Actually, the movie is rather interesting : it happens in Amsterdam and for me, i can see that it's modern, luminous, spacious capital. Katja and her boyfriend actually, a real one in the past was convincing even being young! The story is interesting because it analyzes the jobless young adults and in opposition to what politics say, jobless isn't vacation. Sure you can meet your friends when you want but in the long run it breaks you!
