La bataille de l'Escaut

Having seen a number of Dutch Second World War films, If have to say, I was positively surprised as to how close this film aimed to come to actual situations on the ground. Most of the island of Walcheren had been flooded by the Germans and by Allied bombing of the dikes. One of my uncles survived the battle for Vlissingen in a flooded cellar, floating with a tobacco barrel under each arm. Ironically, he died of lung cancer fifty years later.

As war films go this one is actually pretty good.

One of the most expensive Dutch films ever produced and streaming kingpin Netflix's first originally produced film from the Netherlands, The Forgotten Battle is the perfect type of film for the company to support as well as being one of the most well put together war films in their catalogue.

Directed by native Dutchman Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. (whose dabbled in Hollywood efforts like the The Thing), Battle tells the story of the not overly well-known World War 2 battle of Schelde in which allied forces took it to a bare-bones but determined Nazi army that was hellbent on stopping the allied march across Europe capturing ports and cities on their way into the Nazi occupied heartlands.

Splitting the film up into three separate stories that all combine into one cohesive narrative structure, Battle follows Gijs Blom's young Dutch German soldier Marinus who has been sent back to his home country to take part in the fight, Jamie Flatter's newbie British pilot William who has along with his squad been shot down over enemy lines and battling to get back to allied forces and Susan Radder's Walcheren Island native Teuntje who is trying her best to rescue her brother from the clutches of Nazi soldiers.

Offering a wide ranging scope by telling his story this way, Heijningen Jr's film isn't your typical war film that is all battles and brothers and while it has plenty of in your face battlefront carnage and cat and mouse games of life and death, the film provides a neatly observed different lens on the World War 2 front with it far removed from the more Hollywoodized war films that can find themselves front and centre in the genre on regular occasions.

Working with a budget that while significant is still merely catering for big time productions, Heijningen Jr wrings every last dollar out of his films coffers to ensure that Battle feels like a more prestigious than usual Netflix mid-tier release and while it may not offer the big emotional pay-offs or gravitas to make it a must-watch, Battle showcases to viewers and to Netflix as a company the exact type of films it should be investing in when its not throwing 100's of millions of dollars at releases like The Irishman, 6 Underground and the upcoming Red Notice.

Far from a classic World War 2 tale, battle is still high quality war time drama that offers a firsthand look at a largely unspoken about component of the Market Garden operation.

Final Say -

The Forgotten Battle is an above average Netflix release that has rightfully proved to be a decent sized hit for the streaming company and should be sought after by anyone seeking out a quality World War 2 offering (or a chance to see Draco Malfoy battle Nazis).

3 1/2 biscuit tins out of 5.

I enjoyed this movie very much, although enjoying isn't the right term. It shows the senselessness of war for most of those involved. Praise to the young actors, who did an exceptional job considering the script didn't give their roles a lot of depth. I particularly liked Gijs Blom who plays the part of a Dutch boy in the German service. The German commander was too stereotypically evil for my taste, but other than that this film is certainly in my top three of Dutch war movies. Go see it on the big screen, support your local cinema!

The Forgotten Battle may not be the most memorable war movie ever made, but it is a solid Dutch war drama worth checking out. The aim of this film is to tell the true story of the lessor known Battle of the Scheldt. Visually, this movie is quite impressive. The cinematography beautifully displays an interesting landscape for us. The battle sequences are especially impressive and realistic. They are violent, graphic and expertly shot. It is very much like Saving Private Ryan in that aspect. But there is a lot more going on in this movie than just battle action.

Early on, we're introduced to 3 different characters who's stories we follow. Eventually, they all cross paths, but perhaps not as satisfyingly as one might have hoped. The acting is stellar, although the weakness of this movie is that all the characters feel like supporting acts as the central focus of the movie is the mission of liberating Zeeland in the Netherlands. But it truly is an interesting historical event and story to witness in this format. This battle, as well as this movie, should not be overlooked.

The Forgotten Battle is a World War II film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. And written by Paula van der Oest. The film follows a British glider pilot, a Dutch boy fighting on the German side and a Dutch female resistance member who all end up involved in the Battle of the Scheldt that was fought in 1944. Their choices differ, but their goal is the same: freedom. We get to see the battle through these three perspectives, this storytelling is similar to what Christopher Nolan did with Dunkirk. But the similarities kind of ends there, the screenplay is flawed but it's mostly quite great. Where the film succeeds is the cinematography and direction, it's visually a very pleasing movie. It shows how it's become one of the most expensive Dutch films. I thought the film would focus mainly on the battle but I was wrong, it's about the people that the battle and war is affecting, a more human story which I'm totally behind. So it's more character driven than action heavy, but it's of course a war movie and that's shown brilliantly with imagery you'll continue to remember. But with it being focused on three perspectives, the pacing gets worse and it makes the film feel dragged out, story especially as events take too long of a time to build up. Maybe a shorter run time would have helped the film or a different screenplay that focused on mainly two perspectives, the Allies and Axis. But I'll admit that the story arc regarding Teuntje Visser is worthy to be told as it goes hand in hand with Marinus van Staveren's own character arc which is probably the film's best.

The acting in this film was terrific and full of emotion and authenticity. The cast has Gijs Blom as Marinus van Staveren, Jamie Flatters as William Sinclair, Susan Radder as Teuntje Visser and Tom Felton as Tony Turner. Felton being the only actor I recognized who was great in this, but the unknown cast is because how it's a Dutch production which makes The Forgotten Battle even more authentic. I can only give praise to the cast's performances, from the leads to supporting cast to guest stars. Everyone did a terrific job.

Though I did say the script was kind of flawed, there's no lie that Paula van der Oest can write characters and dialogue well. It's where the script is positive, the ability to humanize the German soldiers which often become black and white. With help of the director and actors, the characters are superbly done. The sound design and musical score is brilliant. An average Dutch feature film at the time contained about 500-600 separate audio tracks, while this film has well over 1700. It says something about the production, and some sounds were even arranged by Charles Maynes who did the sound for Clint Eastwood's WW2 film, Letters from Iwo Jima. It's truly award worthy work. Something else that was great is of course the makeup and costume department. The sets, production and art design. Honestly the whole production is impressive. What made me truly love the film was the final 30 minutes or so when all the build up comes together and the big battle is shown, it's everything a battle on this grand scale should be. Chaotic, immersive, engaging and simply just real. It was filmed and edited similarly to the D-Day sequence in Saving Private Ryan which made us feel that we were in the character's shoes in the battle and I felt the same way in this sequence, honestly the entire movie.

The Forgotten Battle isn't meant to romanize war, it shows the horrors of war on all three sides. The Allies, Axis and civilians. It does it perfectly. If it would have shown more of the battle, locations and such, and had a better script and pacing, I would have found the film to be brilliant. With the beautiful cinematography and everything on the technical side being top notch, I can only say that it's great. Solid 9/10 but not a masterpiece.