A so-so film, but massively over-rated by some commentators

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2008)

Good production values and a smashing central performance, but this film otherwise has very little indeed going for it, with its convoluted, (but also entirely predictable), plot, gratuitous violence and scenes of nudity and by over-staying its welcome by at least forty minutes. Obviously, its Dutch makers felt a real need to make a film about life under Nazi occupation, the Dutch resistance, the treatment of the Jews and the relationships of various protagonists from all of these domains, but, given the resources evidently at their disposal, one could have hoped for much more of an achievement than this concoction of a film. It seems that no-one could come up with a really convincing or satisfactory script/plot/vision to unite the various aspects of the stories they wanted to tell and so what one gets is a series of 'adventures' loosely linked together, but in such a manner as entirely to fail to illuminate, entertain or even, towards the end, hold one's interest much overall. Something to view once, but unlikely to remain in the memory for any length of time after having been seen, (beyond the really great performance by Carice van Houten and the interesting support of Sebastian Koch - both stuck in a film hardly worthy of their talents).