Winter in Wartime

World War Two was such a massive conflict that I don't think you could cover every aspect of every individual geographical part of the war from both sides. There have been myriad films about the war, from the fighting in Europe to the war in the Pacific and the impact it had on the home front. One of the more interesting aspects is the resistance movement and how it manifested itself in different European countries, whether the French resistance or, in the case of Black Book and here in Winter in Wartime, with the active counterinsurgency in the Netherlands. This has a couple of producers with real pedigree, one of whom, Els Vandevorst, has worked with Lars von Trier twice and the other, San Fu Maltha, produced Paul Verhoeven's Black Book.

Winter in Wartime is set in a small village in January 1945 and begins with a plane crashing on the outskirts of the town. The RAF pilot managed to parachute out and, bleeding from a wound in his leg and hanging from a tree, shot a German soldier dead and located someone in the Dutch resistance. Unfortunately for Jack, the pilot, the Nazis are cracking down on the resistance and arrested the man looking out for him. Just before he was taken away, Dirk gave a piece of paper to his next neighbour, a young teenage boy called Michiel. Michiel's family are no big fan of their Teutonic occupiers and his uncle Bob is active in the resistance movement. Michiel reacts to Dirk's misfortune, and his own loss, by not turning to members of the resistance but opening the envelope and following the directions himself. He didn't know what Dirk was doing, or what he was hiding, but is surprised to find a member of the RAF hiding in a camouflaged hole in the woods.

The only person he trusts with this information is his sister, a nurse who, as he says to Jack when introducing her, is a sister. As he is badly wounded, Jack takes his sister to where Jack is hiding but preserves his secret by blindfolding her on the way. Whilst stealing food from his house and making covert journey out to the woods, sometimes taking his sister with him, Michiel builds up a strange friendship with the Englishman but, unbeknownst to him, his sister has taken a shine to Jack and they have their own relationship.

This is a film where not an awful lot happens, but what events do take place have enormous ramifications due to the enormous pressures under which the characters are operating. It only takes a misspoken word or someone to let slip a piece of information to the wrong person, and lives will be lost. Not only does Michiel have his own pet project on the go, but his uncle Bob seems to be involved in just about every aspect of the resistance yet Michiel wants this for himself, either for glory or because it is something he feels he must do to prove himself. This is unclear but, as the story unfolds and more is revealed about different characters, the more you become involved in Michiel's plight. There is a startling moment when his father is taken away by the authorities and Jack offers to turn himself in to save the boy's dad, but Michiel refuses knowing that his uncle has enough contacts to ensure that his father would be returned safely home.


Winter in Wartime comes with plenty of plaudits and critical acclaim, having done great business at the Dutch box office -- an $8 million smash hit -- and was long listed for the Best Foreign Feature Academy Award, having won numerous gongs in domestic award ceremonies and been voted the best Dutch film of 2008 by the Dutch press. Martijn Lakemeier picked up several awards for his performance and I can see why as it is an acting display that belies his young age, full of power, determination and nuance. The big name for English and American audiences will be Jamie Campbell Bower who has appeared in Sweeney Todd, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and, for his sins, RocknRolla and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

I found it to be a gripping and thoroughly involving film, very different to Black Book, the film which it is constantly linked to due to the similar subject matter and the producer that links them. Whereas Black Book was a film about a resistance cell, with particular attention to ethnicity, and was a film that flaunted its budget with some really big scenes and set dressing and production design that suited a big film, this feels much smaller with less characters and is almost like a wartime thriller crossed with a kitchen sink drama. There is plenty of family drama and tense scenes to be seen as a microcosm of the wider conflict going on, not only in the town, but in Europe with the British and Americans coming from the west and the Russians from the East. This is high quality filmmaking and a thoroughly rewarding watch.


The Disc

Extra Features
Sadly, the disc only comes with a trailer as I would have liked to hear from the director or at least one of the actors or writers.

The Picture
The picture quality is quite spectacular with the exterior shots dominated by the permanent layer of snow that blankets everything and, one could argue, acts as a metaphor for Michiel's innocence that will go along with the winter. Detail level is very high, colours are generally muted but, when there is something bright, it comes across as very vibrant and the good contrast levels really help in this.


The Sound
This isn't a disc that will do much business outside of the UK as the only audio option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track with burnt in English subtitles. Most of the dialogue is in Dutch, but there are some exchanges in German and, when Jack is involved, the characters tend to speak English and these parts aren't subtitled. The sound design is superb and the dialogue comes across very clearly although that won't be too much of an issue given the burnt in subtitles and the average viewer's lack of familiarity with Dutch.


Final Thoughts
Deliberately paced, and with very few characters, Winter in Wartime is a thoroughly engrossing film that deserves a wide audience. If you like war films and enjoyed Black Book, then you will undoubtedly enjoy this movie. The performances by the central characters are flawless and the direction is superb.

The lack of extra features is a shame but this disc is at least worth a rental.