CA1 – ‘Komt een vrouw bij de dokter’
Iliana Put
What is the film about?
The married couple Carmen and Stijn seem to have the perfect life, until Carmen gets breast
cancer. The film is about how their whole lives change as the side effects of the cancer get worse.
What did I know about the film before I saw it?
Before I saw this film I knew that it would be about cancer, but that would be it. Since it had only
been in the cinema’s, not that much people had seen it so we didn’t know that it would have such
an impact on us.
Why did I choose to do my CA1 about this film?
One day me and my friend wanted to watch a film together and we heard from ‘Komt een vrouw
bij de dokter’ before in a positive way, so we thought why not watch it?! Afterwards this might
not have been a good choice as it had a big impact on both of us. I’ve chosen to do my CA1 about
this film because I think that this is one of the few film that really made me think about my life,
and what big influence a disease can have on somebody’s (my) life. It made me ask myself
questions such as ‘what would happen to my life in case a close friend or family member would
get cancer and die?’, or ‘why did my grandma have to die when I was just that young?’.
Why is this film so special to me?
This film is so special to me because it calls for feelings and memories from my past. The film
made me cry because since Carmen has cancer I thought about my grandma who passed away 9
years ago as a result of cancer. The tears were mostly from sadness since she is not here anymore
and I really miss her. Every Tuesday after school my sister and I went to my grandparent’s house
where we did games with her and where we did hide and seek just around one chair. I do really
miss those times since the world looked so innocent to me just as my grandmother’s disease
looked to me because I didn’t realize that she would die. Though the tears were also a little bit
from happiness because my grandma’s last wish did come true; meeting my little sister before
she’d die. When I see pictures of that moment I think that it is so beautiful to see a new born next
to her grandma. And since they both cried at that moment the picture is even more beautiful to
me.
What have I learned from watching the film?
I have learned from watching the film that life is hard, and you can’t influence everything as you
would like to, because I think God is determining everyone’s lives individually. Sometimes things
are meant to be so I also learned that you should enjoy the happy things in life with your loved
ones because there are not very many of them. I think people should live with the motto ‘seize
the day’ as every day is special and anyone might just get sick the next day which can change your
whole life. At least, I try to live every day just as it comes and to enjoy the happy things in life since
they are so important to me. That’s also a reason for why I like to travel a lot. I like to discover the
world and see how other people from other cultures live and enjoy their lives.
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