Oorlogswinter 2008

Stephen Holden, New York Times: The movie immerses you in the consciousness of a restless boy desperate for initiation into the rest of his life. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Director Martin Koolhoven's film about one boy's struggle to make sense of the absurd - of the inhumanity of war and its effects on everyone around him. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: There's the potential for rich psychological head games here, and "Winter in Wartime'' flirts with them before giving itself over to contrivances. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It's an affecting, if somewhat flavorless, journey. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Writer-director Martin Koolhoven hits just the right balance of domesticity and oppression here, setting up the film's tense second half with sweet early touches of naivete. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: Koolhoven elicits strong performances in the handsomely photographed feature but fails to sustain tension, creating a work that's smooth and reassuring, never truly gripping. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: The film is stirring and visually beautiful but not quite interesting enough, morally or formally, to be first-rate. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A few of the performances are fine. But this is still a story we've heard before. Only this time, as it's being told, someone's playing his favorite records far too loud. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "Winter in Wartime" may serve as a useful way to introduce teens to what World War II in Europe was like. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Carefully written, sensitively directed and beautifully acted... Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Winter in Wartime benefits from top-notch production values and a sturdy performance from its young lead, Martijn Lakemeier. Read more

Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle: Koolhoven is able to strip away both visually and mentally our idealized cinematic notions of how the resistance fighters lived. It's a lonely existence. It's stark and it's scary. And it makes for a compelling movie. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: If you've seen one slow-motion "Noooooooo!" as a firing squad lets loose, you've seen 'em all. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: It's got a grown-up artfulness, but "Winter in Wartime" could become a lot of boys' favorite movie. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: View the Second World War through a child's eyes and the result isn't hard to predict: a loss-of-innocence tale. Winter in Wartime is the boilerplate version, with the already dramatic facts of the era ramped up to melodramatic levels. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Perhaps best suited to young teens, who will get a peer's view of life during wartime that will make them question what they would do, were they to face similar circumstances. Read more

Boyd van Hoeij, Variety: Dutch helmer Martin Koolhoven finds the perfect blend of classical cinema and arthouse sensitivities. Read more

Ella Taylor, Village Voice: Koolhoven's philosophical probing of human limitation among the good guys is all but overwhelmed by his commercial instincts and undeniable skill at juggling realism with genre. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: What makes "Winter" really special is its complex exploration of the theme of heroism. Read more