Winter In Wartime

“Those Amsterdamn Nazis”

The cinematography of “Schindler’s List” offered a weird contrast in showing us the beauty of black-and-white photography along with the ugliness of war. Martin Koolhoven’s new WWII Dutch Nazi drama “Winter In Wartime” is filmed in natural color, but looks as cold as winter with its ashen greys, whites and blues. Strangely beautiful to look at even as the ugliness of war is at its center.

It’s very near the end of WWII in The Netherlands when a young Dutch boy finds a wounded British soldier in the woods and attempts to help him. This draws the boy into the war, a concept that, in his young years, he’s first coming to understand. He makes it his mission to help the soldier escape, even if it endangers his family and creates sexual tension between the soldier and the boy’s sister.

Reportedly, this film is based on a 1972 children’s novel by Jan Terlouw. That’s a testament to how quickly European children mature. That a child can be the hero in a story with Nazis, guns and sex is a bit like putting Harry Potter in the real world and making him mortal!

Koolhoven’s got everything he needs to work with. He gets strong performances from his cast, including the young actors. He’s got a great story, and the cinematography is mesmerizing. Tighter editing might have quickened the pace a bit. Too many shots seem to linger too long. But it’s clear that the pieces of a great movie are in there somewhere.

“Winter In Wartime” was the official Netherlands entry to the Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film. I suspect it wasn’t nominated because nearly half the film is spoken in English.

DVD Double Feature:

I can’t think of many other movies that deal with WWII from the perspective of German-occupied Holland. Back in 1975 there was a strange little film called “The Hiding Place” starring Julie Harris, Eileen Heckart and Arthur O’Connell. Forget the Jews, this movie is about how the Dutch Christians were victimized by the Nazis. And it’s presented by evangelist Billy Graham.