Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

P.S. Paaskynen 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.

nubka Even though this is a great movie and I'll probably buy it as soon as I can find a copy, I only gave it eight out ten stars. I felt that more time was spent exploring Anna and her situation, than with Lotte. We see Lotte playing the piano, fooling around with her boyfriend and worrying about him when he is taken away, but I never felt like I knew what made her tick.The persecution of the Jews in Holland was not explored enough. When David's family moves in with Lotte's, you just don't feel the impact of what this Jewish family has been through. You don't feel their fear, and you need to feel that fear in order to see how it affects Lotte and the way that she handles David's disappearance.Also, towards the end of the war, when things are supposed to be really hard for the Germans, Anna looks as fresh as a daisy and also (physically) like she is eating three good meals a day, which doesn't seem realistic. Things were hard for the German people at the end of the war, but I don't think it really comes across that way...But, yes, I did like this movie! I especially liked the scenes between Anna and Martin.

gradyharp DE TWEELING (TWIN SISTERS), based on the highly successful novel by Tessa de Loo and adapted brilliantly for the screen by Marieke van der Pol, is assuredly one of the most touching films to date about the strength of family bonds decimated by the horrors of WW II. Director Ben Sombogaart follows Dutch writer de Loo's lead in making this story about the differing fates of twin girls separated at the death of their parents more of a parallel tale than capitalizing on the grim reality of Hitler's influence. The result is a cinematically magnificent, gently hued verismo style of film that succeeds even more in its impact than if it were constantly doused in the dark side of its subject.Germany 1920. Lotte Bamberg (played by three actresses though a long life - child Julia Koopmans, young woman Thekla Reuten and aged woman Ellen Vogel) and Anna Bamberg (child Sina Richardt, young woman Nadja Uhl and aged woman Gudrun Okras) are inseparable twins at age six, living life to its fullest until suddenly both parents are gone and they are split up: the consumptive Lotte goes to live with her upper class Dutch aunt in Holland and the healthy Anna remains in Germany with her poor uncle on a pig farm. Lotte lives a life of privilege, recovers form tuberculosis, studies German at University and sings Schumann ('Frauen Lieben und Leben' appropriately!) accompanied by her soon to be husband David (Jeroen Spitzenberger) who happens to be Jewish. As the war threatens Hitler's invasion on Holland, David is sent to Auschwitz and brokenhearted Lotte marries David's kind brother and has a child. Meanwhile Anna leads an abused life on the poor and filthy farm, is beaten by her heinous uncle when she begins dating a young handsome Austrian Martin (Roman Knizka) and runs away to work as a maid. Martin believes in Socialism and joins Hitler's army, and is killed.Throughout the years of separation each twin writes to the other but their guardians for varying reasons never mail the letters. Anna finally finds Lotte and they have a brief time together in Lotte's elegant surroundings. But when Anna observes German dinner guests berating Jews she flees. The two sisters find it difficult to separate the losses of their husbands: Lotte blames Anna's siding with the Nazis as a cause of David's death. Anna defends Martin's role as one of idealism that had nothing to do with the genocide of the Jews. They part, seemingly to never meet again. But as old women bedraggled Anna seeks out the elegant Lotte and the two come to understand their opposite opinions of what the war did to destroy their happiness.The entire cast is so fine that it is difficult to single any one actor out for distinction: this is truly ensemble acting. Never pushing the story to the edge of saccharine or excess of war violence, director Sombogaart keeps his focus on the dialogue between the sisters central, embroidered with the opposing dichotomies of class and political commitment visceral but understated. The cinematography of Piotr Kukla and the radiant musical score by Fons Merkies are astonishingly effective. This is one of the powerful movies about the Holocaust from an entirely different stance - one that grabs you by the heart and holds on for the 135 minutes of the film...and beyond. In Dutch, German and English with subtitles. Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

evdleer 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.