I'm not a fan of watching dutch movies, but this one got a lot of attention in the Netherlands. It's hard to make a movie based on a book.
Now I was very surprised by the setting and the camera work the movie showed me. The time has been set where the German people took over the Netherlands in the time Hitler ruled Germany. Although we do not get to see the German people a lot, there really is a sort of fear for them you get while watching the movie. Something that is created very good and subtle. Something the filmmaker of Valkyrie with Tom Cruise could not create.
Now there are some things about this movie where I am less excited about. The acting was not very good. The little boy who played the main character acted very annoying. Laughing at times when there is nothing to laugh about.
The story is shallow. Things are happening and as a viewer you have to guess why some things happen the way they happen. That is very weird. Sometimes it works for a movie when you have to use your imagination as a viewer, in this case it does not work at all.
So the big question that arose while watching the movie was; Why did the boy's father get killed? Did he die because of the English soldier? Was the English soldier for the little boy worth the life of his father? In a book the writer puts a lot of information what a movie maker cannot do in the film. In my opinion there is missing a lot of useful information in this movie.
Now I was very surprised by the setting and the camera work the movie showed me. The time has been set where the German people took over the Netherlands in the time Hitler ruled Germany. Although we do not get to see the German people a lot, there really is a sort of fear for them you get while watching the movie. Something that is created very good and subtle. Something the filmmaker of Valkyrie with Tom Cruise could not create.
Now there are some things about this movie where I am less excited about. The acting was not very good. The little boy who played the main character acted very annoying. Laughing at times when there is nothing to laugh about.
The story is shallow. Things are happening and as a viewer you have to guess why some things happen the way they happen. That is very weird. Sometimes it works for a movie when you have to use your imagination as a viewer, in this case it does not work at all.
So the big question that arose while watching the movie was; Why did the boy's father get killed? Did he die because of the English soldier? Was the English soldier for the little boy worth the life of his father? In a book the writer puts a lot of information what a movie maker cannot do in the film. In my opinion there is missing a lot of useful information in this movie.