Character (Karakter)

I came to tell you

Today I have been sworn in as a lawyer.

You must be sorry, but I am sworn in...

...and this is the last time I'll come here.

Farewell for ever. You no longer exist for me.

Congratulations.

You congratulate me?

I can't take your hand.

The hand of someone who always opposed me.

Or helped... or helped.

Or helped... or helped!!

CHARACTER

The victim congratulates you... He says "congratulations",

extends his hand... you take it and then leave.

It must have been quite a handshake!

On the way downstairs... ...you stumbled on the stairs.

Have you seen this before?

You don't recognise it? It's a lovely knife.

But not as lovely as this...

Take it...

Go on! Take it.

You know the feeling? Do you?

Call a doctor.

Would you like something to drinkng? To eat?

For me too, please.

Mr Jacob Willem Katadreuffe...

Is that the right pronunciation? "Katadreuffe?"

You are suspected of murder or manslaughter of bailiff...

Arend Barend Dreverhaven.

That name sounds like imminent thunder.

So you visited Dreverhaven this afternoon...

...but nothing unusual happened.

What was your relationship to Mr Dreverhaven.

Mr Katadreuffe?

Dreverhaven...

The name was a legend long before I heard it.

It won't be long, sir, maybe tonight...

God bless you, sir, you're a good...

Bastard! Dirty bastard!

Dreverhaven,

Bailiff...

Law without compassion...

...the curse of the poor.

I know Dreverhaven's reputation...

but what was your relationship to him?

You did business with him?

You worked for him?

He worked for you?

When did you first meet Dreverhaven?

At home...

At home he had a housekeeper.

...Jacoba, Joba for short.

She was a surly young woman, but he didn't mind.

He didn't say much either.

She worked for him for a year when one evening...

it happened only once. Nothing changed between them...

...but six weeks later she broke the silence.

I am pregnant.

Well...

I'm leaving.

The father has to support the child.

You will make him pay, won't you?

No.

Have you written to him?

No.

But you will write?!

No! No!

Dreverhaven is your father.

I am named after my mother.

You mean... Dreverhaven wouldn't take responsibility?

No...

It wasn't that. After the birth we moved to the other side of town

She moved to East.

She rented a room at 142 Zeilstraat...

...for 7 guilders a week.

She keeps house for three middle-class families...

...and a doctor on East Quay.

And the child? It has a name?

Jacob.

Jacob Willem.

Dreverhaven's message was three words.

WHEN'S OUR WEDDING?

The proposal was accompanied by a postal order for a suitable sum

"Returned to sender"!

Dreverhaven took the money back...

...and sent it to her again a month later.

And she sent it back again...

...and the sent it again the next month.

"Returned to sender"!

The postal-order duel lasted more than a year.

Would you like to come in?

The money went back and forth 13 times...

...so she decided to reconsider his proposal.

BASTARD

Your monther is a whore!

It wasn't the first time my father's "absence" was mentioned.

When I asked who or where he was she always answered:

We need nothing of him We need nothing of him.

Then she was silent, as always.

I live across the road Am I intruding?

My wife died.

Well I thought, just seeing you...

that you may want to know I'm available.

You don't have to decide at once.

I shall consider your proposal.

I thought it was a good idea to marry him.

Unfortunately we soon left the area.

Your mother's a whore.

Jacob, Jacob...

Go home!

Whore!

Go away!

That same day, mother packed our cases...

...and we looked for another house.

My mother said nothing all evening...

...but I know I had hurt her...

...because I had lost control.

I decided to control myself an all times.

That is a good intention, Mr Katadreuffe.

Did you stick to it today?

Yes.

That didn't help Dreverhaven.

That's what you say.

Anyway, you met Dreverhaven this afternoon.

I assume it wasn't the first time

Yes.

Our move took us closer to him.

By the harbour.

Mother bought a sewing machine to earn the rent.

That house also had something that was to play a major role later.

The books were in a foreign language...

and the previous inhabitants had moved abroad, so I could keep them.

From then on it was easier to be silent with her.

I studied the wonderful pictures for days...

and the strange words were less alien than I thought.

Elephant.

Elephant in English.

My monther's eternal silence made me think... she could not bear my company.

Only later did I realise our characters clashed.

Our contacts were awkward and...

...would always remain awkward, because we were opposites.

Jacob!

Joba!

Come on...

Jacob! Jacob!!

- There's a boy at the door. - He's looking for his father.

Name?

Smith...

Smith...

Smith...

Name?

De Beer.

Maas...

Verkerk...

Dreverhaven.

Dreverhaven, 11 South Quay.

I'm sorry, I've never seen this boy before.

Shit

We need nothing of him.

Wait.

From then on I decided to leave him alone.

I can understand that. Cigarette?

Thanks.

How did you get on then?

You're a lawyer, you must have studied.

After school, Mother didn't let me learn a trade

There was no money. I had to take care of myself.

I had one job after another.

Van Zwavel, Huizing, Kerk...

...Katadreuffe!

I'm sorry. Try again next month. Off you go.

Work was usually temporary, with weeks unemployed in between.

I filled the time reading my encyclopedia.

It only went up to T, but I didn't care.

I used a dictionary to decipher it. I absorbed the knowledge page by page.

Meanwhile we increasingly got on each others nerves.

I wanted to leave and earn my own living.

She apparently wanted exactly the same.

It's small, but dry and warm.

My son is moving to the back room.

How much?

Seven guilders, full board.

I'd rather you didn't smoke in the room.

I'm Jan Maan.

Jan Maan was a Communist. A lathe operator who moved in...

...after quarrelling with his parents about his fiancee.

Trudy... I met her in a lunchroom.

My mother said; Lunchroom? She lives off tips.

Four weeks later the engagement was off.

But Jan Maan always stayed with us.

I looked outside this morning,

summer is late this year, madam.

No sign of it yet.

It could be quite a while.

- She never speaks. - Something between you?

She thinks I should get out more.

Look for work.

Build something, climb the ladder

This society doesn't want climbers.

You're going to change that?