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Twin Sisters

Original title: De tweeling
  • 2002
  • R
  • 2h 17m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
Twin Sisters (2002)
DramaRomanceWar

Twin sisters Lotte and Anne grow up very differently after their parents' deaths. Now adults, they want to reunite, but World War II and their growing socioeconomic differences complicate th... Read allTwin sisters Lotte and Anne grow up very differently after their parents' deaths. Now adults, they want to reunite, but World War II and their growing socioeconomic differences complicate things.Twin sisters Lotte and Anne grow up very differently after their parents' deaths. Now adults, they want to reunite, but World War II and their growing socioeconomic differences complicate things.

  • Director
    • Ben Sombogaart
  • Writers
    • Tessa de Loo
    • Marieke van der Pol
  • Stars
    • Ellen Vogel
    • Gudrun Okras
    • Thekla Reuten
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    7.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ben Sombogaart
    • Writers
      • Tessa de Loo
      • Marieke van der Pol
    • Stars
      • Ellen Vogel
      • Gudrun Okras
      • Thekla Reuten
    • 32User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 4 wins & 8 nominations total

    Photos12

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    Top cast54

    Edit
    Ellen Vogel
    Ellen Vogel
    • Lotte senior
    Gudrun Okras
    Gudrun Okras
    • Anna senior
    Thekla Reuten
    Thekla Reuten
    • Jonge Lotte
    Nadja Uhl
    Nadja Uhl
    • Jonge Anna
    Julia Koopmans
    • Kleine Lotte
    Sina Richardt
    • Kleine Anna
    Betty Schuurman
    Betty Schuurman
    • Moeder Rockanje
    Jaap Spijkers
    Jaap Spijkers
    • Vader Rockanje
    Roman Knizka
    Roman Knizka
    • Martin
    Margarita Broich
    Margarita Broich
    • Martha
    Ingo Naujoks
    Ingo Naujoks
    • Uncle Heinrich Bamberg
    Barbara Auer
    Barbara Auer
    • Charlotte
    Jeroen Spitzenberger
    Jeroen Spitzenberger
    • David
    Hans Somers
    • Bram
    Hans Trentelman
    • Meneer De Vries
    Marieke van Leeuwen
    • Mevrouw De Vries
    Katrin Pollitt
    • Frau Stolz
    Jean-Paul Maes
    • Herr Stolz
    • Director
      • Ben Sombogaart
    • Writers
      • Tessa de Loo
      • Marieke van der Pol
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews32

    7.47.5K
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    Featured reviews

    9paaskynen

    Bring your handkerchiefs

    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.
    8stamper

    A tale of two sisters

    I read the book to this film about 6 years ago, back when I was in high school and was so impressed by it that I bought the book for my bookcase three years ago or something. I haven't read the book since and I'm not some kind of purist, heck I don't even remember the specifics of the book. At best that makes me as biased as someone who didn't read the book at all...or at worst it means that I'm not a 'purist'.

    Translating a book into film, the visible medium, there are so many stages at which it can go wrong. Luckily it didn't with this one. The casting is perfect. I especially liked how Lotte and Anna spoke believably broken German and Dutch. Not as it sometimes happens in American productions, when they for instance speak Dutch and say it is German. This was very well done indeed and added to the films worth. What touches me most about De Tweeling though is the fact at heart, that you get shaped partly by your environment. It is worked out very well in this film and my favorite part is that the film distances itself (as does the book) from pointing out one of the two sisters as 'the bad guy'. The film just shows the horror, the desperation and the pain on the common man from both sides; the aggressor and the wrongfully invaded. It is a truly great theme and it is one of the few films I guess in which you actually get to feel sympathy for the Germans (or at least some of them). Maybe that is understandable. Maybe it is logic that most films portray the Germans as gruesome and despicable as quite a lot of them maybe were. But every once in a while a film comes along that shows us that they are human too, that they suffered losses; that German lives lost shatter German families as they shatter American, Dutch, Polish, Jewish, English and so on. This is one of those films. It strays from the cliché, which is what I liked about it as I did like Stalingrad (1993) and Die Brücke (1959).

    8 out of 10
    9Boba_Fett1138

    Beautiful WW II drama with a great story.

    "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

    http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
    9machiel_de_man

    Touching

    De tweeling is the best dutch film up until this point. It was surprisingly well made for a dutch production. With more votes it would become a top 250 movie and I think it deserves to be. A few years ago I almost cried because of the Green Mile. This movie almost brought to tears too. It takes very much for my cold hart to be touched. Not only was I touched by the story but also the quality of this production.

    Unfortunately the government wants to stop funding the dutch movieindustry. That'll be the end great dutch movies like de tweeling.
    8jotix100

    Unidentical twins

    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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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance
    Band of Brothers (2001)
    War

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Thekla Reuten initially showed interest in playing Anna, but director Ben Sombogaart thought she would be better suited to play Lotte.
    • Goofs
      The BM sailing boat used by Lotte and David has sails with transparent plastic windows. These did not exist before the war.
    • Connections
      Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004)

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    FAQ18

    • How long is Twin Sisters?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 12, 2002 (Netherlands)
    • Countries of origin
      • Netherlands
      • Luxembourg
    • Official sites
      • Official site
      • Official site (Netherlands)
    • Languages
      • Dutch
      • German
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • İkiz Kız Kardeşler
    • Filming locations
      • Spa, Belgium(forest scenes)
    • Production companies
      • IDTV Film
      • Samsa Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,563
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,207
      • May 8, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,938,165
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 17m(137 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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