Character 1997

In 1930s Rotterdam, A.B. Dreverhaven Jan Decleir, a feared bailiff, is found dead with a knife in his stomach, setting off a tense investigation that soon points to Katadreuffe Fedja van Huêt, an ambitious young lawyer who has clawed his way up from poverty. Seen leaving Dreverhaven’s office on the afternoon of the murder, he is arrested and taken to police headquarters, where the narrative unfolds through his memories of a long, fraught relationship with the man who turns out to be his father.

The story begins with Joba Betty Schuurman, Katadreuffe’s taciturn mother, who once worked as a housekeeper for Dreverhaven. Their relationship is marked by silence and distance; after a single, impliedly coercive encounter, she becomes pregnant and chooses independence over the bailiff’s offers of money and marriage, sending a steady stream of refusals by mail. The past casts a long shadow over Katadreuffe’s life, and his path often collides with the formidable Dreverhaven, shaping a dynamic of pursuit and resistance that will define everything that follows.

As a child, Katadreuffe’s world is colored by conflict and survival. When he is arrested for a boyish theft and tells the police that Dreverhaven is his father, the bailiff refuses to acknowledge him. As a young man, Katadreuffe unwittingly borrows from a bank owned by Dreverhaven to buy a failed cigar store, prompting a lawsuit that seeks to strip him of his livelihood. Yet Katadreuffe manages to repay the debt and secures a clerical position within the firm tasked with pursuing him, his education largely self-made: an incomplete English-language encyclopedia found in his mother’s apartment becomes his unlikely tutor, and learning English opens doors in a way no formal schooling ever could.

With the debt repaid, Katadreuffe seeks a second loan from Dreverhaven to finance his education and the long road to a legitimate legal career. Dreverhaven agrees, but only with the binding condition that he can recall the loan at any moment. Against the odds and despite the bailiff’s relentless attempts to stall him, Katadreuffe passes the bar and becomes a lawyer, a victory that promises a new life even as old wounds fester.

The day of the murder—when the firm’s celebration for Katadreuffe’s achievement is said to begin the tale—becomes the moment of truth. Katadreuffe bursts into his father’s office, first overwhelmed by a genuine, almost ceremonial handshake, then swept into a surge of anger that erupts into a brutal clash. He leaves the room in a rage, leaving a scene that feels like the culmination of years of tension.

Yet the timeline tightens the mystery. Police records show Katadreuffe departed the scene at 5:00 p.m., while Dreverhaven’s body reveals a death time near 11:00 p.m. The investigation then reveals a startling truth: Dreverhaven’s death was a suicide, a revelation that reframes the entire feud. In a final twist, a document—left by Dreverhaven’s lawyer—emerges as his will, transferring all of his substantial wealth to Katadreuffe; the will is signed “Vader” (Father), sealing a paradoxical legacy of hatred, longing, and legitimate triumph.

The film unspools with a cool, measured gravity, tracing the competing impulses of a son’s ascent and a father’s domination, and asking whether achievement can ever erase the debt of lineage. Through Katadreuffe’s cautious wit, his self-taught fluency in language, and his relentless pursuit of a rightful place in the world, the narrative questions the price of progress when family loyalty and power intersect, and whether forgiveness can ever fully resolve a history written in conflict.