''Antonia's Line'' (Original title: ''Antonia'') is a 1995 Dutch
feminist film written and directed by
Marleen Gorris. The film, described as a "feminist fairy tale", tells the story of the independent Antonia (
Willeke van Ammelrooy) who, after returning to the anonymous Dutch village of her birth, establishes and nurtures a close-knit
matriarchal community. The film covers a breadth of topics, with themes ranging from death and religion to sex, intimacy,
lesbianism
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homo ...
,
friendship and love.
''Antonia's Line'' was made after challenges in finding locations and funding in the 1980s and 1990s. It enjoyed critical success and several awards, including winning the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the
68th Academy Awards.
Plot
Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the widow Antonia and her daughter Danielle arrive in Antonia's home town where her mother is dying. She reunites with her old friend Crooked Finger, a depressed intellectual who refuses to leave his house. She also begins attracting a following, including Deedee, a mentally handicapped girl, after she is raped by her brother Pitte, and Loony Lips, a simple-minded man who falls in love with Deedee. A pariah, Pitte flees the village. Antonia turns down an offer of marriage from Farmer Bas, but develops a lasting romance with him.
Danielle, who has a vivid imagination, becomes an artist and expresses interest in raising a child, while rejecting the idea of having a husband. Antonia and Danielle visit the city to find a man to impregnate Danielle, resulting in the birth of Therèse, a
child prodigy. Danielle falls in love with Therèse's tutor, Lara, and they remain together in a
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
relationship. Therèse develops an understanding and kinship with Crooked Finger beyond what Danielle could be capable of.
Years later, Pitte returns to town to collect his inheritance and rapes Therèse. Antonia places a curse on him, after which he is beaten by men of the village and drowned by his brother. Therèse is unable to find her intellectual match but eventually has a relationship with a childhood friend, resulting in her pregnancy. She decides to keep the baby and gives birth to Sarah, the film's narrator, who has a fascination with death. Sarah observes many of her elders die off, including Crooked Finger who commits suicide, and Loony Lips who suffers a tractor accident on the farm. Antonia later dies of old age, surrounded by family and friends.
Cast
Production
Director and screenwriter
Marleen Gorris envisioned the story as distinct from her previous work, such as ''
A Question of Silence'' (1982), which she referred to as "indictments against society". She referred to ''Antonia'' as "a celebration of life", incorporating
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
elements and cruel details. Gorris finished the screenplay in 1988. However, making the film took three attempts, with challenges stemming from putting together a large cast and finding a village that could be portrayed as realistic for a 50-year period. It was eventually filmed in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
.
Another major challenge was finding investors.
Funding ultimately came from the Netherlands, Belgium and the
UK.
With the help of producer
Hans de Weers
Hans de Weers (; 17 April 1966) is a Dutch Television producer, television- and film producer. Apart from box office hits like ''Oysters at Nam Kee's'' and ''New Kids Turbo'' he is most notable for producing the film ''Antonia's Line'' that enjoy ...
, Gorris found investors and also worked with British producer
Judy Counihan of Red Hot Organization.
The budget was £1.5 million.
Filming finished in November 1994.
Reception
Box office
In the Netherlands, the film grossed $272,294.
In the United States, ''Antonia's Line'' opened in 99 theatres, and made $1.8 million in its first 10 days. After 164 days, it crossed the $4 million mark.
According to
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray ...
, the film completed its run grossing $4,228,275 in North America and $21,046 in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
, for a worldwide total of $4,249,321. In the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, it had 1,660,901 ticket sales.
Critical reception

According to Dutch director
Mike van Diem, the film received more positive reviews in the United States than in its native Netherlands, saying "We thought it was a good film, but nobody thought it was ''that'' good". Dutch writer Hans Kroon suggested the U.S. reception was out of a need for escapism. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 67%, based on 51 reviews, and an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Magical and morbid, ''Antonia'' picturesque landscapes and proficient performances elevate a somewhat pedestrian parable".
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film four stars, saying the film showed "the everyday realities of rural life, a cheerful feminism, a lot of easygoing sex and a gallery of unforgettable characters". Emanuel Levy, writing for ''
The Advocate'', wrote "It's easy to see why" the film was winning awards in festivals, calling it "an enchanting fairy tale that maintains a consistently warm, lighthearted feel", and
Willeke van Ammelrooy wonderful.
Janet Maslin of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called it "a work of magical feminism". Alan A. Stone of the ''
Boston Review'' called it an "astonishingly beautiful film" representing "a truce in the gender war".
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' said ''Antonia's Line'' is "Beautiful, tender, hearty and poetic", and Van Ammelrooy is warm. Conversely, Edward Guthmann of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle'' called the film "an odd mix of schmaltz and anti-male orneriness" and the character of Antonia a "sour pickle".
Jonathan Rosenbaum of the ''
Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...
'' called it "humorless" "feminist rage".
In his ''2002 Movie & Video Guide'',
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
called it "a treat from start to finish".
Women's studies professor
Linda López McAlister commented that "It seems to me that Gorris's accomplishment in this film is to have created a sense of place and characters full of life, full of quirks and idiosyncrasies and peccadillos, full of love, and rage, and desire". Anneke Smelik analyzed the film, writing "It is
Oedipal in the sense that it is about a family, but instead of featuring the triangle of father, mother and child, the film establishes a line of mothers and daughters." She goes on to write, "Female desire is represented in all of its diverse manifestations: Antonia's wish for independence, Danielle's quest for artistic creativity, Therèse's pursuit of knowledge, and Sarah's curiosity about life in general".
Accolades
''Antonia's Line'' won the 1996
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,
the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
People's Choice award,
and two
Nederlands Film Festival Golden Calf awards.
Gorris also won for Best Director at the
Hamptons International Film Festival and Best Screenplay at the
Chicago International Film Festival.
See also
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List of submissions to the 68th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
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List of Dutch submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
Further reading
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issuu
Issuu, Inc. (pronounced "issue") is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. The company's software converts PDFs into customizable digital publications that can be shared via links ...
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External links
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''Antonia''at
Lumiere
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Antonia's Line
1995 films
1995 comedy-drama films
1990s feminist films
1990s Dutch-language films
Dutch LGBTQ-related films
Lesbian-related films
Films set in the Netherlands
Films shot in Belgium
Films directed by Marleen Gorris
Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Dutch comedy-drama films
Dutch independent films
LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films
1995 LGBTQ-related films
Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award winners
Meteor Film films