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20 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Twin sisters is a beautiful movie that fully deservs the oscar nomination., 28 January 2004
8/10
Author: evdleer from Rotterdam, The Netherlands

When their parents die, both twin sisters Lotte and Anna are seperated by their family. One of them is raised by a wealthy Dutch family and the other one by a German farmer family. They are not allowed to see or even write each other. Because they live in two different worlds they become two different women. The dutch girl is going to marry a Jew, while the German one falls in love with a SS-soldier. When they finally contact each other it turns out that they have grown apart too far, and a definite break seems inevitable. Will it ever be possible to become reconciled with each other?

Twin sisters is a beautiful movie that fully deservs the oscar nomination. It's not really another WWII movie as much people think, but more a touching story behind the actual events of the war.

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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Beautiful WW II drama with a great story., 3 April 2004
9/10
Author: Boba_Fett1138 from Groningen, The Netherlands

"De Tweeling" is more than just another WW II drama and truly adds something and is made interesting by a very good story.

The story is truly the power of this movie. It shows the perspective of WW II from the Dutch as well as the German side, which makes this movie really interesting and powerful. It shows how the twin sisters that already didn't had any contact for years are driven further out of each other because of WW II. It doesn't only show the Nazi-German military perspective of war but also that of the German civilians and in a way helps you to understand why so many Germans supported the Nazi's in WW II. It's a shame that there are still some "typical book elements" present in the movie that I sure work fine in the book but not in the movie, including the typical book ending (I say no more.).

The acting is for especially Dutch standards pretty high. Jeroen Spitzenberger acts magnificent but of course also the German actors pull of very well.

There are some excellent and impressive scene's. The movie doesn't show any gore or horror of WW II but focuses on the emotional effects of it on individuals and especially the twin sisters of course, of which one grew up in the Netherlands and the other in Germany. It doesn't only show the effects of the relationship between the two during the war but also long after it.

I even like it a bit better as "The Pianist".

9/10

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15 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
judging the other side is not as easy as it might seem, 9 December 2004
10/10
Author: Braama (Braam.a@chello.nl) from Gravendeel, Netherland, World, Universe

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Two twin sisters Lothe and Anna, born in prewar Germany (1920) are separated at the age of eight when there last parent and father dies. Because the Dutch and German relatives "themselves are already at war", both the children grow up in a totally different environment, different language, -parents, -family and -friends. The one's poisoned by the anti-, the other by the pro German news and propaganda, we watch these beautiful children grow and both their life's being build on what they go through, what they see, what they hear and there conclusions about that. "Accidentilly" they finally meet on "neutral ground" the flashbacks make you love them both and understand both the women and the choices they've made. As older woman, Anna says it beautifully simple "if we as sisters cannot solve this problem, who can?" and as she is dying to hear her sisters forgiveness, she gets both.

A film which shows us that judging the other side is not as easy as it might seem.

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12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
A fine Dutch export product., 13 May 2005
7/10
Author: Philip Van der Veken from Tessenderlo, Belgium

Apparently "De Tweeling" or "The Twins" has been based on a very popular Dutch novel. I'm not able to compare the movie with the book, because I haven't read it yet, but I can and will tell you something about this movie and how I feel about it.

The movie starts in the 1920's when, after the death of their parents, the two twin sisters are separated at the age of six. One of them will stay in Germany where she'll have to work hard on her uncle's farm, the other sister will live with her upper middle class Dutch aunt and uncle in Holland. For many years the girls try to contact each other but both families are able to intercept their letters and to make them believe that the other sister is dead. While they both grow older and the Second World War affects their lives in a very profound way, both try to renew their bond several times, but fail time after time because of different reasons. Only at the end of their lives, they are able to forgive and forget...

Even though the movie has its weaker moments, overall this is some very nice and touching cinema. Especially the beginning and the end of the movie are hard to forget. And even though I'm not Dutch myself (I'm from their 'little neighbor' in the South), I could easily recognize the feelings between the Germans and the Dutch. I don't know if anybody has his or her doubts about that, but the movie exactly shows it as it was during those days (not that I experienced it myself, I was born more than 30 years after the war).

If you are looking for an alternative war movie, than this is certainly something for you. By alternative I mean that you won't see any soldiers fighting or bombs exploding, but you'll get an idea of how life was for the civilians who had to try to survive during the German occupation. Another reason why I call it alternative is because the movie does not only cover the small time period of 1938-1944, the period in which Europe was in the war. It tells the story between the 1920's and the present day.

What might be a bit confusing from time to time is the fact that the actors constantly switch between German and Dutch (especially at the end of the movie). Of course, when you don't understand anything of both languages and have to read the subtitles, you won't even notice. But anyway, I must congratulate the Dutch with this movie (as a Belgian this hurts a bit, hahaha). With this one, they have a nice movie they can be proud of. I give it a 7.5/10.

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14 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Separate paths ... and the attempts to reconcile, 6 July 2004
7/10
Author: dkennedy3 from Melbourne, Australia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Without being a twin, one can not imagine the inner trauma involved when separated from a twin sibling in harrowing circumstances. This is what happens to two little six year old girls in 1920s Germany at the beginning of Twin Sisters. Lotte, although quite ill, is the luckier of the two, as she is taken in by distant family in the Netherlands, where she is lovingly nursed back to health. Anna, on the other hand, finds herself claimed by a harsh uncle and aunt to live and work on their farm, where punishing treatment makes her existence miserable. Although in vastly different settings, both sisters are actively discouraged from contacting each other by letter, 'for their own good', we are told. Mercifully, Anna is eventually rescued from her cruel guardians and put into a school - an experience she has only been able to dream of up to that time. We follow the two sisters as they mature, including the long-awaited first reunion, which is a happy moment. With the advent of World War II, however, they find themselves in opposite camps. Romantic attachments bring things to breaking point, with memories of the joyful reunion all but forgotten. Little things, like a handkerchief embroidered (rather poorly) by their mother play a healing role, and the film ends with the twins still struggling for that final reconciliation in old age. Twin Sisters provides a valuable insight into the effect that national conflict can have on personal relationships. It opens with a delightful musical score, and gives us some pleasant European scenery from Netherlands and Luxembourg, where the film was shot. 7.5 out of 10 from me.

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Unidentical twins, 21 April 2006
8/10
Author: jotix100 from New York

Little prepares Lotte and Anna, twin sisters living happily with their beloved father, for what life had in store for them. After the girls' father dies, they are left alone at the mercy of relatives who separate them in an act of sheer cruelty. Lotte and Anna go through a lot in life, not knowing, at times, about one another, and spend most of their lives apart.

Lotte fares better of the two sisters. She was a frail girl growing up and her relatives dote on her since they regard her as an invalid. Lotte writes to Anna letters during the first years of being apart, but those letters are never sent. Anna, on the other hand, is made a slave, practically, as she is made to help in the family farm and is never given the opportunity to attend school until the kind priest discovers how she has been severely beaten.

The other encounter of the sisters occur too late in life. Lotte, who when first visits Anna at the place where she is employed as a maid, by a wealthy Nazi sympathizer, is appalled by the way Anna has turned out to be an anti Semite. This puts a barrier between them not to be broken until both are too old and too stubborn to recognize how wrong they both have been about the past. Their last reunion is a bitter experience, especially for Anna, who is in poor health.

This excellent Dutch film directed by Ben Sombogaart, is based on a novel by Tessa DeLoo, which was published in this country as "Twins", gets a magnificent treatment in a lavish production that covers several decades. The action is set in Holland and in Germany.

The basic reason for watching the film is the great acting the director got from Thekla Reutins and Nadja Uhl, who are seen as the young Lotte and Anna. Both these young actresses are perfect as the twins in their youth. Ellen Vogel and Gudrum Okras, on the other hand, are also effective as the older sisters have a final confrontation at a spa where both have gone for cures.

The film shows a talented director, Ben Bombogaart, doing an excellent job in this richly layered tale of sisterly love and missed opportunities.

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10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Sad, but Inspiring., 15 June 2003
9/10
Author: Juch from Netherlands

I read the book, De Tweeling by Tessa de Loo, and I must say that the movie most certainly lived up to the high quality of the book, in some ways even surpassed it.

The movie is about two little girls, obviously twins, who tragically get separated. One to work on a farm, the other to live with rich relatives in The Netherlands to recover from her tbc. The movie then jumps to present where to two elderly sisters meet again in a spa. However, their meeting is far from loving and it becomes clear that some scar from the past obstructs the reunion of these two sisters.

The movie then brilliantly uses flashbacks to reveal the scar that has separated the two for life, and it mostly comes down to the second world war, both living and experiences it in a different way and place.

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11 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Twin Sisters, finally quality from Holland, 25 January 2005
10/10
Author: wstolk from Netherlands

Little did I like Dutch cinema before I first saw this movie. The Colours are hardly professional and the acting is not always too good. But Ben Sombogaard has delivered a Dutch film of which we can be proud.

The film about two separated twin-sisters is situated mostly in the Second World War. Anna and Lotte both live in different countries. Anna lives in Germany were she is poor and attracted by the promises of the National-Socialism. Lotte lives in a rich family in the Netherlands. Living separate lives, the become more and more detached from each other. Finding each other in a Spa in Luxembourg brings back more and more memories. But can they forgive each other...

Ben Sombogaard did a great job in shooting the film of this popular Dutch book. Particulairly should be mentioned the fact that he choose never to make a film about the war. The confusions and drama between the two sisters are the most important storyline. The war is only (a very important!!) background. A must see for everybody, especially Dutch people!

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Bring your handkerchiefs, 14 July 2007
9/10
Author: P.S. Paaskynen from Tornio, Finland

Twin Sisters is a truly excellent film detailing how social and war experiences influence lives and drive people apart. It is a vein in Dutch film making which has already resulted in other critically acclaimed films like The Assault (1985). The central premise of separated twins growing up under different circumstances in different social circles has been explored in literature before, for example in the novel "Kronprinsarna" (1972) by Swedish author Lars Ardelius, but the novel "Twins" (1993) by Tessa de Loo has the added element of the Second World War and all the suffering that it entailed. The film follows the novel quite closely which has resulted in a richly layered drama in which nothing is as black and white as history may make us believe. The SS-officer is a reluctant soldier and a loving husband, while the culture-loving Dutchman hiding Jews in his house is a reluctant hero and a petty man. Through the eyes of the twin sisters we are able to appreciate the war experience of German and Dutch people and understand how it drove people apart and how hard it was for them to reconcile. The attempts of the German sister to reach out to her twin even at a very advanced age make for some very moving drama that will leave no one indifferent.

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9 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Twin Sisters, Parallel Dramatic Lives, 1 February 2006
9/10
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In 1926, in Colony, Germany, the twin sisters Anna and Lotte Bamberg are separated after the death of their parents. Anna stays in Germany with her ignorant catholic uncle and aunt in their small property, and Lotte, with tuberculosis, moves to Holland. Anna is not sent to school, to work in the farm, while Lotte is raised by an upper class family having good education. They do not have any contact with each other, but near the World War II they meet each other. Later Anna marries a young SS officer, while Lotte is engaged of a Jewish musician. Their lives follow different and opposite paths with the war.

Based on the Dutch bestseller novel written by Tessa de Loo, the Oscar nominated "De Tweeling" is a magnificent movie. The dramatic story of these twin sisters, forced to a separation in their childhood, and following parallel lives due to WWII, is very sad, but never corny. I felt very sorry for the suffered character of Anna, and in the end I was very sad with this touching and sensitive movie. The direction and performance of this unknown cast is amazing and this movie is a must-see. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Irmãs Gêmeas" ("Twin Sisters")

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