Weak title for a strong second world war-time drama set in a small Dutch town occupied by the German Army in early 1945. The plot centres on a young teenage boy, just on the cusp of manhood, whose curiosity and growing wish to contribute to the war effort begins to lead him into trouble, especially as his father is the conciliatory town mayor. When a young British fighter-pilot's plane comes down just outside the town and he has to kill an investigating enemy soldier on patrol, young Theo determines to track him down and lead him to safety.
Realistically shot in the grey, cold winter time, the story probably includes a bit too much clichéd action which makes the twists in the tale somewhat predictable when they come. In no particular order these involve the boy's relationship with a newly-arrived uncle sympathetic to the Dutch Resistance movement, his nurse sister's burgeoning relationship with the baby-faced young Brit and his tricky relationship with his father in whom he is disappointed at his apparent cooperation with the Germans.
The movie also inserts a number of nail-biting moments of near-discovery, treachery and last-minute attempted rescues, possibly too many for the story to bear in its running-time and still seem true-to-life. There's a mild rites-of-passage undertow to events as the young boy's sexual desires awaken, courtesy of a handy peephole in his upstairs room when his family put in a young girl and her family, a set of pornographic playing cards and finally, mist blatantly, when his sister gets together with the pilot.
The final scene of heroic escape is again a bit too exaggerated for my taste as is the boy's overcoming his natural aversion to guns until provoked too far, but for all my caveats, it's a fast-moving, exciting and gripping story, very well-acted by most of the leads, only the young British actor playing the pilot seems too lightweight in his portrayal.
I see this movie won several awards in its native Holland and I can understand why. It's a good movie which might have worked a bit better for me with a few less climactic scenes which tend to overpower the narrative and seem like an unnecessary concession to Hollywood action movie conventions.
Realistically shot in the grey, cold winter time, the story probably includes a bit too much clichéd action which makes the twists in the tale somewhat predictable when they come. In no particular order these involve the boy's relationship with a newly-arrived uncle sympathetic to the Dutch Resistance movement, his nurse sister's burgeoning relationship with the baby-faced young Brit and his tricky relationship with his father in whom he is disappointed at his apparent cooperation with the Germans.
The movie also inserts a number of nail-biting moments of near-discovery, treachery and last-minute attempted rescues, possibly too many for the story to bear in its running-time and still seem true-to-life. There's a mild rites-of-passage undertow to events as the young boy's sexual desires awaken, courtesy of a handy peephole in his upstairs room when his family put in a young girl and her family, a set of pornographic playing cards and finally, mist blatantly, when his sister gets together with the pilot.
The final scene of heroic escape is again a bit too exaggerated for my taste as is the boy's overcoming his natural aversion to guns until provoked too far, but for all my caveats, it's a fast-moving, exciting and gripping story, very well-acted by most of the leads, only the young British actor playing the pilot seems too lightweight in his portrayal.
I see this movie won several awards in its native Holland and I can understand why. It's a good movie which might have worked a bit better for me with a few less climactic scenes which tend to overpower the narrative and seem like an unnecessary concession to Hollywood action movie conventions.