Winter in Wartime Reviews

Kept it moving... good flick.

4/19/13 This film does pick on the Germans (again), but it is a very good story. It is a tough life they are forced to live under the occupation. This story definitely makes me appreciate that I live in today's world and not back then. In war, everyone was constantly putting their lives on the line, even the civilians, like in this film.

It's a nice enough story, but does quite reach its full potential. Maybe it's because of some devices that seem to break the tone of the movie - like the use of shaky-cams at certain stages that really just take me out of the film precisely because its not used for the most part and mostly comes across as redundant. Or the superfluous flashback montage at the big reveal moment which is really not needed - we got the point anyway, thank you. Too bad, because the themes explored here are really interesting.

beautiful performance by Martijn Lakemeier who captures the fear of the Nazis that lingered in the air,

A must see for the way loyalty, kindness and heroism of family, friend and foe are shown entangled and complex; for the beautiful winter backdrop to the murderous German occupation; and for the cast, especially the young who come of age, trying desperately to prevent more killing. Gorgeous and painful!! (Beautiful old bicycles, too)

Another excellent WWII movie from the Dutch. Well worth a watch!

Near the end of World War II, 14-year-old Michiel becomes involved with the Resistance after coming to the aid of a wounded British soldier. With the conflict coming to an end, Michiel comes of age and learns of the stark difference between adventure fantasy and the ugly realities of war.

Richly compelling. Brilliant.

Wartime as viewed through the eyes of a boy in the waning days of WWII in Holland. Beautiful movie, excellent cinematography and a good story. A war movie yes, but more a coming of age story in the midst of terrible circumstance

Considering its a film about WWII, its not very moving or shocking.

Had potential, and some interesting moments, but ultimately fails to deliver. Drifts throughout and only really comes together at the end.

Not bad, although in so many ways so .... unlikely to have succeed. Bikes, buggies and horses, ferries, motorcycles, fallen planes and military vehicles. Secret radios, messages and betrayals, group shootings and nudity before happy ending (no bun intended!). Good old dutch war time saga ending in liberation... both of the mind, body and the country.

A beautiful, if not, powerful Dutch film. It tells a story of simple resistance during WWII, and the monstrosities that can result from it by the people surrounding them. The acting was strong, and indefinitely great. The performance of lead, Martijn Lakemeier was wonderful. I kind of enjoyed the coldness of the cinematography. A film full of emotion--betrayal, hope, anxiety, sadness, but also with a pleasant story, I suppose. Overall, I thought it was thrilling throughout and enjoyed it.

Winter In Wartime is one of most suspenseful foreign thrillers before 2009s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The seting in World War II is dark and gritty. The performances are absolutey outstanding and so realistic. It has a very gritty story about a teen deciding to going to adulthood to save a British soldier from the Nazis. I was on the edge on my seat. I really cared about the characters and wanted them to be okay. The score felt like The Girl With Dragon Tattoo again even before that which it made it so intense and scary. I love the hell out of this movie. I couldn't believe it was an entry for the oscars, but didn't get recognition. It was the finest film setting in World War II since 2004s Downfall.
Rate10/10

This Dutch WWII drama is visually stark and tense. It's also somewhat unbelievable and inconsistent. The facts here may be loosely based on a true story, but it feels like the truth morphed over time in the minds of the people involved.

The young teenager Lakemeier is the son of Thiry, the kowtowing mayor of a small Dutch town overrun by Nazis. The clumsy kid is nonplussed by his father's sly, deferential treatment of the SS troops in order to keep the starving berg peaceful. Lakemeier is both protected by his father's position and aided by his own sneakiness;
he and his pals steal Nazi artifacts. So, when given a task behind enemy lines, the boy jumps at the chance. While completing his covert operation, Lakemeier fi nds an injured British soldier (Campbell Bower) and sets to protect him.

Can you already sense there is a lot going on in the film? Yet most of this tale feels like a mash-up of other, much better WWII coming-of-age films. Noble Lakemeier is good, but he cannot hold together a story where the dad is both wimpy and sneaky, and the Nazis vacillate between vicious and kind. Soon, the sullen sister is asked for help, the Nazis start torturing poor old dad, and then it all devolves into a ridiculous chase sequence. By that point, Winter in Wartime has lost us all in the woods around that little Dutch village.

Set in German-occupied Holland near the end of WWII, a boy learns the painful complexities of loyalty and knowing how to do the "right" thing. It's a memorable coming-of-age tale.

Martin Koolhoven and his convincing cast sets up this brumal, melancholy film's tense second half with warmly understood streaks of genuine naivete to create an involving, touching and subtly symbolic coming-of-age tale set in a world where any spare word or glance could cause disaster, a time and place when childhood was a luxury few families, or nations, could afford.

Story about an adolescent boy growing up in a small Dutch town occupied by the nazis during the last winter of WWII. When one of his friends passes him a note and then promptly gets arrested, Michiel is forced to make tough choices balancing his loyalty to his family with a wounded British solder . Is Uncle Ben really who he appears to be? Who can he trust? How does he make sense of the absurdity of war? Good acting and beautifully photographed scenes of the snow-covered village make this an enjoyable movie!

I am quite biased when it comes to giving ratings and/or reviews on WW2-themed movies.This movie is not as good as a more famous Dutch WW2 movie, "Zwartboek", on capturing the true soul of Dutch resistance, since it focuses on a much narrower scope. Nonetheless, the focus on the small boy of Michiel (played by Martijn Lakemeier, whose honest, naive acting reminds me of the small Macaulay Culkin) deserves plenty of praise.

A Dutch film portraying a teenager's unanticipated involvement in trying to save a downed British pilot during World War II in Nazi occupied Holland. Beautifully photographed with some good scenes, although the story arc doesn't quite come together.