I went to see this film without high expectations, with the story well known throughout the country for many years. I was pleasantly surprised with the way they decided to tell the dramatic tale of Stijn, who is married to Carmen (another great role by Carice van Houten) and sees their perfect life collapsing when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Stijn is unable to handle his new life: going in and out of a hospital, watching his wife throw up all the time, losing her hair because of chemo and finally having her breast amputated. He finds comfort in another woman, Roos and slowly but surely he falls in love with her. At first you might hate Stijn for what he is doing - cheating on his wife while she is dying of cancer. But afterwards you slowly begin to understand how he must feel: he loves Carmen, but he can't stand watching here being destroyed by cancer. For him, Roos is his 'cancerfree zone' where he can feel good again, as life was before the horrible diagnosis. Where the beginning of the film is merely okay it gets better as the story develops. It may seem like a standard Dutch film at first (a lot of nudity) but towards the end it shows its real strength, with Carmen losing her fight against the disease and Stijn deciding he wants to be there for her. The final scenes between Stijn, Carmen and their five year old daughter Luna are simply beautiful. It is in the end that the movie delivers and makes everyone understand the tag line: an ode to love. The whole film is a constant battle between love and cancer and eventually, in some way, love turns out to be the stronger of the two. Definitely a must see!
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