Winter in Wartime covers similar ground to a wide swathe of other WWII resistance flicks, comparisons to Paul Verhoeven's recent
Black Book inevitable due to the Dutch country setting. The focus here is on adolescent disillusionment, though, as its protagonist, a teenage boy who helps a downed British airman, gradually realises the complexities of what actually constitutes heroism in the compromises created by occupation.
You can't fault the sincerity of the enterprise, based on Jan Terlouw's autobiographical novel, and there are some taut setpieces as well as decent acting. But we've been here so many times before, that something more is needed, and Koolhoven lets us down on that score with some overly glossy stock scenes. Just one German who wasn't just a faceless menace wouldn't have done any harm, either.
5/10
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