Winter In Wartime [HD]

An Engrossing World War II Drama
WINTER IN WARTIME is an engrossing World War II drama, set in 1945 Holland.

The story centers on 13-year-old Michiel (Martijn Lakemeier), son of his village's mayor. When local Resistance fighters are captured and killed by the Germans, Michiel finds himself helping a downed British flyer (Jamie Campbell Bower). The youth, working on his own, plans to get the flyer to another village, so that he can reach a contact that will get him back to England. But, when a dead German soldier is found (shot by the flyer), the situation changes.

The Germans take hostages, and one of those hostages is Michiel's father.

Based on the best-selling book by Jan Terlouw and superbly directed by Martin Koolhoven, the Dutch language (with English subtitles) film is filled with suspenseful moments and several surprising plot twists. This is a "coming of age" story under the worst possible circumstances, as a young boy finds that his entire world and everything he loves...

Great Dutch war story
I started watching this feeling quite tired and after five minutes I was wide awake and hooked. This is a film set in the January of 1945 very near the end of the war in occupied Holland. It tells the story of Michiel (Martijn Lakemeir), the son the towns Mayor. He has a paradoxical relationship with his father, in that he hates him for `working' with the Nazi's but at the same time loves him for being his Dad.

One night an RAF plane crashes near to the town, one pilot survives and goes into hiding under the dubious protection of the local resistance, who don't seem too well organised. Michiel then picks up the gauntlet to try to get this English flyer home.

The story is not really about war, but choices and good and evil, how in war nothing is cut and dried. The acting in the whole thing is of a particularly high standard. There have been criticisms that a lot of the `action' was signposted. I hate that in films too, but did not feel that to be the case. There...

Several cinematic moments of remarkable power
Judge Clark Douglas, DVD Verdict-- Though Winter in Wartime takes place during WWII, the film hews closer to the suspense/thriller genre. Koolhaven demonstrates a real knack for fusing observant naturalism with immensely polished cinematic technique. That fusion makes for an intriguing viewing experience, as the film frequently shifts gear from an arthouse-like exploration of these people and the world they live in to a brisk, tense thriller. In a way, the intense moments are made more effective by the manner in which they spring forth out of a considerably more sedate film. This is clearly the effort of a top-notch craftsman; don't be surprised if Koolhaven is recruited to helm some sort of American prestige project in the near future.

In many ways, Winter in Wartime feels like a WWII movie for the No Country for Old Men era; an emotionally involving but cynical look at the world that wraps everything in aching shades of gray and delivers unsettling catharsis...

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