Oorlogswinter

It's important to know 'Winter in Wartime' is not an action war movie. This is a drama set during the Second World War. The film revolves around a young boy, Michiel, who decides to help a soldier, Jack, who finds himself beyond enemy lines after his plane was shot down.

Michiel is a nosy youngster, and his notion to help the soldier might be attributed to this characteristic. It is disconcerting to see such a young boy lie with ease. It was also interesting seeing him become increasingly more possessive over Jack - especially once Michiel's sister, Erica, becomes involved. Erica is a nurse, who sees to Jack's wounds.

The film deals with so many different emotions, and the performances from the entire cast is really good. This is not your typical war movie, and might disappoint action buffs for lack of action, but it certainly delivers on an emotional and moral level. Martijn Lakemeier is excellent as Michiel, who carries the film.

Aristides-2 and malcolmgw have already mentioned some of the holes in the plot that you can drive a truck through, such as Jack's leg being broken and rotting away one day but being magically healed when he clambers across a river along the underside of a bridge on the very next day.

Aside from absurd details like this, the historical premise of the movie is unrealistic. The events portrayed are supposed to have happened in January 1945, at a time when the Germans were running from the Russians in the East and mobilized their last reserves of manpower, weaponry, and fuel for the futile Battle of the Bulge in the West.

And yet this movie will have us believe that, just then, a whole company or so of German soldiers - all young men in their prime, well- fed, well-armed and -motorized, spic and span - are tasked with playing cat and mouse all day long with a bunch of hapless villagers in the Dutch countryside? And that, with 5 years of battlefield experience, none of them can hit a standing target at 50 paces?

I get that the makers of movies are more interested in human virtues and morals than in historical facts, but it nevertheless detracts from a move when the historical background is so poorly treated.

So, you are the Mayor of a small town in Holland - being occupied by the Germans near the end of WWII. What is the best way to safeguard your family and your town? Do you go along with the Germans - smile, shake their hands - accommodate them? Or do you resist and show your hatred openly for them?

That is the dilemma facing the Father of the main character in this film - a young man named Michiel. His Father is the Mayor and Michiel does not respect him as he takes the non confrontational path to appeasing their German occupiers. MIchiel likes his Uncle who is an active part of the Resistance.

Michiel and his sister get caught up in resisting the Germans quite by accident - as they help a downed American airman. The story is tense with a number of twists and turns - and a final very satisfying ending where Michiel learns the true meaning of courage. It sounds schmaltzy, but it isn't.

The best part of the movie is it challenges the watcher to assess what would they have done? It is easy sitting in 2014 America to criticize those people in occupied lands: "They should have done more to resist" - "Thye should not have gone along with the Germans."

Anyone who smugly believes that they would take the "heroic" path and resist openly in such a situation needs to see this movie.

14 year-old Michiel lives in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation in the latter part of WWII. Although he's still only a kid, he happens upon a downed British flier and bravely decides to help him--even though the expedient thing would have been to stay out of this. To complicate things, Michiel's father is the local mayor--and a man who has long tried to appease his Nazi overlords. What is the boy to do?

The film is excellent in every way. Martijn Lakemeier did a great job in the leading role and the film was a quality production throughout. I also appreciated it because the film was very difficult to predict. Sure, you know the Nazis would lose and the war would be over in only a few months--but there were so many twists and turns in the film that it kept me guessing. It helped that this was not a 'happily ever after' sort of family film but a gritty one that was about a boy who needed to grow up very, very fast and make some very adult things. Well worth seeing and a decent film for the family despite its R-rating.

Oorlogswinter is a very, very special movie around the themes war, love, trust, friendship from the point of view of a 14-year old Dutch teenager in the last winter of World War 2.

• beautiful cold winter-setting with lots of snow and original landscapes; - fantastic music from Pino Donaggio; - lots of close shots on excellent actors; - shows both the adventure and the drama of a war.

The 14-year old actor playing the main role is an amazing natural talent in a very realistic story which could happen to every teener in a war-situation.

This is a movie everyone must see between 10 and 110.

Watch out for Oorlogswinter!