This was almost a "9"

Rating: 7/10 (26 February 2008)

This gripping (true) tale of what the Dutch people went through during the waning days of WWII is masterfully told from the point of view of a young Jewish girl who is forced from hiding and joins the Resistance in order to spy on the Germans and, ultimately, to survive.
The main actress gives a brilliant and daring performance, and the story is so riveting, and at points insane, that it kept me watching in awe at how this group of people will do whatever it takes to survive and triumph over the Axis powers.
My only issue is that it is photographed and designed like a Movie of the Week. Everyone is so perfectly lit, (and overly back-lit), and the sets are soooooo clean that it just screams SOUNDSTAGE! It was so jarringly overproduced that it ripped me from the movie at times, and only the fact that the story/performance was so strong that I kept going.
Now, I know that this is the director's style, and for the most part it works for this other films. But I felt this time it was too campy for the subject matter. For "Showgirls" and "Starship Troopers" is was shot this same way, but those films were supposed to be ironic and campy, and they worked because of it. Here, it just seemed staged, hokey and sometimes downright silly.