The film was hugely successful in the Netherlands, out-grossing competing films like Twilight and The Dark Knight. Additionally, it was the highest-grossing film in the Netherlands during Christmas 2008 and the first weeks of 2009.
The film was chosen by the Dutch Critics as the best Dutch film of 2008; it won the PZC Audience Award (best movie based on a novel), three Rembrandt Awards, and three Golden Calf awards. Also, it was chosen as Best Film by the Young Jury (14–18 years) at the Rome Film Festival and was shortlisted (with eight other movies) at the Academy Awards, in the section Best Foreign Language Film.
The area around the Martinuskerk in Woudrichem was used for many scenes of the filmThe town hall of Megen doubled as the German headquartersThe IJsselbrug in Zwolle was the location of the final river crossing
Michiel feels resentment towards his father, the mayor, who is seemingly only interested in maintaining the status quo between the town and the German Army. However, Michiel worships his Uncle Ben, an adventurer in contact with the local resistance. During the winter of 1944–1945,[7] Michiel's loyalties are tested.
An RAFde Havilland Mosquito is hit in the air and crashes, but before it hits the ground, a young British airman is able to escape by parachute.
One of the villagers, Dirk (the elder brother of Michiel's best friend), helps the airman, Jack, but Dirk is later arrested. Before his arrest, Dirk gives Michiel a letter to be delivered to Bertus, the village blacksmith. Before Michiel can deliver the letter, Bertus is shot and killed by the Germans.
Michiel opens the letter, which directs him to Jack's hiding place in the forest. Jack is injured, and Michiel enlists the aid of his sister Erica, a nurse, to take care of him. Jack and Erica soon develop a romantic relationship.
Michiel's father is arrested when the body of a German soldier, killed by Jack on the night of the plane crash, is found in the forest. Jack wants to turn himself in to save Michiel's father, but Ben tells Michiel he (Ben) can save his father. Ben's efforts fail, and Michiel's father is shot by the Germans along with two other men as reprisal for the death of the soldier.
Michiel tries to take Jack to meet his contact in the town of Zwolle, across the River IJssel, but the Germans foil their attempt, and the two narrowly escape after a horseback chase through the forest. Michiel finally turns to his Uncle Ben for help in getting Jack to Zwolle. Ben agrees, and goes to have a smoke with Jack, who is now hiding in a shed at the bottom of their garden.
The next morning, Michiel goes to the shed to check on Jack, but he is not there. He finds him in Erica's room, in bed with his sister. After this, Ben, Jack, and Erica set off for the bridge to Zwolle. As they leave, Ben tells Michiel that Dirk should never have gotten Michiel involved with Jack. After they go, Michiel realizes that he had never mentioned Dirk's role to Ben. Quickly checking Ben's suitcase, he finds papers showing that Ben is working for the Germans.
Rushing to the river, Michiel stops the trio, grabs Jack's pistol, and confronts Ben. While Michiel guards Ben, Jack and Erica succeed in making it across the river to Zwolle. Ben tells Michiel that he had arranged for his father to be released, but that his father refused to let another villager be shot in his place. Ben attempts to escape to a passing German patrol, but Michiel shoots and kills him.
A few months later, Allied soldiers enter the village and are rapturously welcomed by the villagers. One of the soldiers brings a letter for Erica, presumably from Jack. Michiel hesitates to join in the celebrations after all that has happened, but finally joins in.
The film's budget was estimated to be €4 million.[9]
Filming locations in the Netherlands included the community of Herwijnen in the province of Gelderland,[4]Lopik in the province of Utrecht, Zwolle in Overijssel as well as the communities of Megen and Woudrichem in North Brabant.[4][10] The area around the old town hall of Megen, as well as the building itself, doubled as the location where the Germans had their headquarters.[11][12]
The film premiered in Amsterdam on 17 November 2008. It was released in Belgium on 3 December 2008 and in Germany was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2009. Other film festivals where Winter in Wartime was shown include the South Korean Pusan International Film Festival, the Rome Film Festival, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and three Canadian European Union Film Festivals.
Reception
Box office
Approximately 900,000 people in the Netherlands and 60,000 people in Belgium saw the film in cinemas.[14]
Critical reception
Winter In Wartime has an approval rating of 75% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 67 reviews, and an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus states: "A gripping, handsomely shot World War II melodrama with thriller elements successfully mixed in".[15] On Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16]
Groningen is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The capital of the north, Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of the country; as of December 2021, it had 235,287 inhabitants, making it the sixth largest city/municipality in the Netherlands and the second largest outside the Randstad.
Uden is a town and former municipality in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Maashorst.
Jan Cornelis Terlouw is a retired Dutch politician, physicist and author. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66) party, he served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1981 to 1982 under Prime Minister Dries van Agt.
PEC Zwolle is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total of 22 seasons, reaching sixth place in 2015. They won the KNVB Cup in 2014 and also reached the final in 1928, 1977 and 2015.
Breda is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has 185,072 inhabitants on 13 September 2022 and is part of the Brabantse Stedenrij; it is the ninth largest city/municipality in the country, and the third largest in North Brabant after Eindhoven and Tilburg. It is equidistant between Rotterdam and Antwerp.
Aart Staartjes was a Dutch actor, director, television presenter and documentary maker from Amsterdam. He was well known for his role on Sesamstraat, the Dutch co-production of Sesame Street. On this show, his character's name was Meneer Aart and in this persona he authored a book called Meneer Aart: Leven en werken van de man die geen kindervriend wil heten.
Soulsister is a Belgian music band consisting of Jan Leyers and main vocalist Paul Michiels that initially existed from 1986 to 1995 and, after a split, reunited in 2007. Soulsister is often designated as SoulSister, the Soul Sisters or Leyers, Michiels and SoulSister.
Black Book is a 2006 war drama thriller film co-written and directed by Paul Verhoeven, and starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman and Halina Reijn. The film, credited as based on several true events and characters, is about a young Jewish woman in the Netherlands who becomes a spy for the resistance during World War II after tragedy befalls her in an encounter with the Nazis. The film had its world premiere on 1 September 2006 at the Venice Film Festival and its public release on 14 September 2006 in the Netherlands. It is the first film that Verhoeven made in his native Netherlands since The Fourth Man, made in 1983 before he moved to the United States.
The Netherlands Film Festival is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht.
Melody Zoë Klaver is a Dutch actress.
Dick Hein "Derek" de Lint is a Dutch film and television actor, known for playing the role of Derek Rayne in Poltergeist: The Legacy.
Martinus Wouter "Martin" Koolhoven is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. Internationally he is most known for Schnitzel Paradise (2005), Winter in Wartime (2008) and Brimstone (2016), which was his first film in English. It was released in 2017, after it premiered in the competition of the Venice Film Festival in 2016.
San Fu Maltha is a Dutch film producer and film distributor. He founded the production company Fu Works and he co-founded film distributor A-Film.
The Spinoza Prize is an annual award of 1.5 million euro prize money, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher Baruch de Spinoza.
The following is a list of winners of the Golden Calf for best actor/actress at the Nederlands Film Festival. From 2021 onwards the award became a gender-neutral award.
Michiel Borstlap is a Dutch pianist and composer.
Winter in Wartime is a novel by the Dutch writer Jan Terlouw. The story is about a 15-year-old Dutch boy who lives through the last winter of World War II and is based on the author's recollections; Terlouw was eight when the German army invaded the Netherlands.
Sint-Michielsgestel is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands.
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