Set in Antwerp, Belgium in the early 70s, Left Luggage tells the story of Chaja, an impetuous, liberal-minded philosophy student. She has a complex relationship with her parents, who both survived the Nazi concentration camps. She needs money so she gets a job as a nanny for a Hassidic Jewish family whose world is completely alien to her liberated lifestyle. She becomes close to their son and through this relationship learns about the lives of her own parents. (Fonte: Imdb)

Anversa, primi anni 70. Chaja, una studentessa di filosofia dal temperamento passionale, ha un rapporto complicato con i propri genitori, sopravvissuti ai campi di concentramento nazisti. Sceglie di lavorare come tata per una famiglia ebrea e scopre pian piano i soprusi subiti dai familiari. (fonte: Wikipedia)

Ad Anversa, negli anni '40 durante la persecuzione nazista, il signor Silberschmidt seppellisce due valigie in un giardino mentre tenta di sfuggire all'arresto in quanto ebreo. Sempre ad Anversa, trent'anni dopo, vive Chaja Silberschmidt, una giovane ragazza di vent'anni, ebrea emancipata ("liberata" sia dall'ideologia borghese sia dall'ebraismo verso cui è insofferente), studentessa di filosofia con una relazione complessa con i genitori, entrambi sopravvissuti ai campi di concentramento nazisti. In apparenza sereni, entrambi cercano di soffocare i terribili ricordi dell'olocausto, la madre infatti fa in continuazione dolci e il padre ha la mania ossessiva di ritrovare le due valigie in cui aveva riposto tutte le sue cose più care, seppellite non ricorda dove. Chaja vive da sola e fa piccoli lavoretti per mantenersi. Accetta di lavorare per una rigida famiglia di ebrei ortodossi facendo la bambinaia per i loro cinque figli tra cui Simcha, un bambino che a quasi cinque anni ancora non dice una parola. La vita di Chaja e i suoi valori di libertà vengono sconvolti nel confronto con la stretta osservanza chassidica della famiglia Kalman.

NO OF PAGES: 0 SUB CAT I: Fiction SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: Set in Belgium in the early 70's, Left Luggage is the touching and emotional story of Chaja, a rebellious philosophy student stuggling to come of age. Her relationship with her parents, both concentration camp survivors, is strained and she finds herself unable to accept her Jewish identity. A family friend finds her a job as a nanny for a Hassidic family with 5 children. Joining forces with Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rossellini) and through her love for the youngest child who doesn't speak, Chaja learns to accept and respect a culture steeped in traditions, and finds the true value of life. Under the deft direction of Jeroen Krabbe, this is a stunning, moving film with wonderful, finely wrought performances by the entire cast. This film gem certainly deserves a wider audience. It is a coming of age film that also pulls back the curtain on jewish self hate and anti-Semitism. It is also about the power of love to transform and transcend.

The film centers around a beautiful, free spirited, young woman in Antwerp, Belgium during the early nineteen seventies. A philosophy student and daughter of holocaust survivors (Maximilian Schell and Marianne Sagebrecht), Chaja (Laura Fraser) is in denial of her jewish heritage and is totally secular in her approach to life. Her relationship with her parents, for whom she has little understanding, is strained. Struggling on her own, she is in need of a job. A friend of the family (Chaim Topol) hooks her up with a job lead, that of nanny for a Hassidic family, the Kalmans.

Desperate for help with her household, Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rossellini), who is at first hesitant upon meeting the nubile, pants clad Chaja, hires her as nanny for her three boys. Chaja, when confronted with the lifestyle of these ultra orthodox Jews, filled with rules so alien to her own life, hesitates in accepting the position. Her heart is stolen, however, by adorable four year old red head, Simcha Kalman (Adam Monty), whose heartbreaking smile causes her to accept the position. It marks the beginning of changes for both the Kalmans and Chaja.

Through her developing affection for the shy Simcha and her relationship with Mrs. Kalman, she becomes accepting of her own jewish identity and more understanding of her own parents ideosyncracies, born as a result of being holocaust survivors. Chaja also learns how painful love can be, when tragedy touches her life in a way that she never envisioned. Trust me, when I say that the viewer will feel her pain, so poignant and profoundly moving is the pivotal, tragic event.

This is simply a beautiful film. Isabella Rosellini gives a an exquisite and sensitive performance as the ultra orthodox wife and mother, Mrs. Kalman, who is trying to achieve harmony in a household steeped in traditions at odds with the outside world. It is no wonder that she won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival for her portrayal. Laura Fraser is a sensational and delightful breath of fresh air, luminous as the gorgeous young woman, Chaja, who is struggling with her jewish identity and her discovery that life is not always a bed of roses.

Chaim Topol is engaging as the kindly and wise family friend who quietly leads the way to Chaja's eventual embracement of her jewish identity. Maximilian Schell and Marianne Sagebrecht are affecting as Chaja's parents and holocaust survivors, who live their lives under the torment of memories of long ago. Double kudos to Jeroen Krabbe for his wonderful direction of this film and for his fine portrayal of the uncompromising Mr. Kalman, whose personal tragedy broadens his understanding of lives not bound by the strictures of his own. Last, but not least, is the very adorable Adam Monty, whose portrayal of Simcha will break the viewer's heart.NOTES: Purchased from Amazon.com. SUBTITLE:

NO OF PAGES: 0 SUB CAT I: Fiction SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: Set in Belgium in the early 70's, Left Luggage is the touching and emotional story of Chaja, a rebellious philosophy student stuggling to come of age. Her relationship with her parents, both concentration camp survivors, is strained and she finds herself unable to accept her Jewish identity. A family friend finds her a job as a nanny for a Hassidic family with 5 children. Joining forces with Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rossellini) and through her love for the youngest child who doesn't speak, Chaja learns to accept and respect a culture steeped in traditions, and finds the true value of life. Under the deft direction of Jeroen Krabbe, this is a stunning, moving film with wonderful, finely wrought performances by the entire cast. This film gem certainly deserves a wider audience. It is a coming of age film that also pulls back the curtain on jewish self hate and anti-Semitism. It is also about the power of love to transform and transcend.

The film centers around a beautiful, free spirited, young woman in Antwerp, Belgium during the early nineteen seventies. A philosophy student and daughter of holocaust survivors (Maximilian Schell and Marianne Sagebrecht), Chaja (Laura Fraser) is in denial of her jewish heritage and is totally secular in her approach to life. Her relationship with her parents, for whom she has little understanding, is strained. Struggling on her own, she is in need of a job. A friend of the family (Chaim Topol) hooks her up with a job lead, that of nanny for a Hassidic family, the Kalmans.

Desperate for help with her household, Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rossellini), who is at first hesitant upon meeting the nubile, pants clad Chaja, hires her as nanny for her three boys. Chaja, when confronted with the lifestyle of these ultra orthodox Jews, filled with rules so alien to her own life, hesitates in accepting the position. Her heart is stolen, however, by adorable four year old red head, Simcha Kalman (Adam Monty), whose heartbreaking smile causes her to accept the position. It marks the beginning of changes for both the Kalmans and Chaja.

Through her developing affection for the shy Simcha and her relationship with Mrs. Kalman, she becomes accepting of her own jewish identity and more understanding of her own parents ideosyncracies, born as a result of being holocaust survivors. Chaja also learns how painful love can be, when tragedy touches her life in a way that she never envisioned. Trust me, when I say that the viewer will feel her pain, so poignant and profoundly moving is the pivotal, tragic event.

This is simply a beautiful film. Isabella Rosellini gives a an exquisite and sensitive performance as the ultra orthodox wife and mother, Mrs. Kalman, who is trying to achieve harmony in a household steeped in traditions at odds with the outside world. It is no wonder that she won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival for her portrayal. Laura Fraser is a sensational and delightful breath of fresh air, luminous as the gorgeous young woman, Chaja, who is struggling with her jewish identity and her discovery that life is not always a bed of roses.

Chaim Topol is engaging as the kindly and wise family friend who quietly leads the way to Chaja's eventual embracement of her jewish identity. Maximilian Schell and Marianne Sagebrecht are affecting as Chaja's parents and holocaust survivors, who live their lives under the torment of memories of long ago. Double kudos to Jeroen Krabbe for his wonderful direction of this film and for his fine portrayal of the uncompromising Mr. Kalman, whose personal tragedy broadens his understanding of lives not bound by the strictures of his own. Last, but not least, is the very adorable Adam Monty, whose portrayal of Simcha will break the viewer's heart.NOTES: Purchased from Amazon.com. SUBTITLE: