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Reviews
Oorlogsgeheimen (2014)
Beautifully done film about the WWII German occupation of the Netherlands
Very sensitive and touching story of early adolescence and the awakenings in three young teens to the good and the bad in the world around them. We see two boys who are friends in everything separated by the different attitudes of their families toward the German occupation. The boys' relationship is complicated by the arrival in their village of a new face, a girl from Amsterdam who quickly becomes a pal.
The film shows the grim, complex consequences of the occupation on the Dutch people. Some passively accepting what they feel they must, some actively cooperating with the new authorities and some trying to resist.
We finally get a glimpse of the effects of the Nazi occupation on the Jews of Holland. Although the actual horrors of the Holocaust are not directly shown, the story and acting make clear the final result.
The cinematography is beautiful. The acting and direction are first rate. I enthusiastically recommend this movie.
Return (2011)
Very sensitive, understated film about a soldier's return home.
Careful, subtle, artistic portrait of the inner conflicts and turmoil experienced by a woman soldier on her return home from war. From the beginning of her return to her family we see how there are things seriously troubling her that she herself can't put into words. We watch the external, behavioral effects of these psychological conflicts as she interacts with her husband and children who themselves have also been affected. Which war she returns from is not stated, clearly intentionally to show the viewer that this is not important. There is little external drama in this quiet, sensitive demonstration of the powerful psychological forces stimulated by military service in war, both in the service member and in her family. Liza Johnson gives us a movie that shows us a fictional character and her life yet has in every scene a ring of truth. This is an artistic achievement.