Oorlogswinter | The Netherlands/Belgium | 2009
104 minutes
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Producers: San Fu Maltha, Els Vandevorst
Screenplay: Paul Jan Nelissen, Mieke de Jong, Martin Koolhoven.
Based on the novel by Jan Terlouw
Photography: Guido van Gennep
Editor: Job ter Burg
Production designer: Floris Vos
Costume designer: Alette Kraan
Music: Pino Donaggio
With: Martijn Lakemeier, Yorick van Wageningen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Raymond Thiry, Melody Klaver, Anneke Blok, Mees Peijnenburg, Tygo Gernandt
Festivals: Pusan 2009
In Dutch, English and German, with English subtitles
Censors rating M violence, offensive language
Cresting a wave of World War II Resistance tales in recent European cinema, this excellent Dutch film expertly mines the classic movie tension of underground secrecy and sabotage. Revitalising a story well-known in the Netherlands from a popular novel and TV series, director Martin Koolhoven deepens our involvement with convincing, rounded characters and a keen awareness of the complexities and bitter moral ambiguities of civilian life under Nazi occupation. It is January 1945, and food is scarce in Holland. Fourteen-year-old Michiel is not so attuned to ambiguity: he watches in embarrassment as his father, the mayor, placates the Germans. When he sees the parachute landing of a shot-down RAF pilot in a nearby forest, Michiel resolves to hide the pilot and arrange his escape. As he gets more deeply involved, he puts more lives than his own on the line.
“A gripping, at times epic blockbuster… the perfect blend of classical cinema and arthouse sensitivities.” — Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter
