Winter in Wartime

Winter in Wartime (2008) is the sort of movie that more people in America need to see. One of the most popular movies ever in its own country, the Netherlands, it tells the story of an adolescent boy, Michiel, in a small town during the latter years of WWII. His father, the town's mayor, collaborates with the occupying German army while his uncle, who lives with the family, works for the Resistance. Matters come to a head when Michiel finds a British pilot, Jack, who has parachuted into the woods around the town after his plane was shot down.

The movie, directed by Martin Koolhoven, manages to be heartfelt, without being sentimental, as Michiel disobeys both his father and his uncle, who have told him to stay out of the war, when he resolves to protect the pilot and smuggle him out of the country. Complicating matters, his sister, a nurse who treats Jack’s broken leg, has fallen in love with him. Soon afterward, the body of a German soldier turns up dead in the woods (Jack shot him the night he parachuted), and the German commander arrests Michiel's father and threatens to execute him if whoever killed that soldier isn't turned in. Michiel then has to decide whether to continue protecting Jack, which means that his father will be shot, or stick with his plan to get the pilot to safety.

The film features some truly extraordinary acting especially by Martijn Lakemeier, who plays Michiel, and Yorick van Wageningen, who plays Uncle Ben. The interaction between the two of them is compelling as Ben is the sort of big, burly bear of a man, always roughhousing with his nephew, that adolescent boys typically admire. Also extraordinary is the cinematography of this idyllic town and its lovely woods, which are in stark contrast to the brutality of the war.

I highly recommend Winter in Wartime, for I think you’ll find it one of the best films you’ve seen in awhile.