I tend to gravitate towards foreign films. Not only do they allow me to experience other cultures, but the foreign films in the average American video store tend to be four and five star quality. It is generally only award winning foreign films that find there way into the US market. The Dutch film ASSAULT is no exception. It won a 1987 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The film centers on the life of Anton Steenwejk, a 12 year old boy when the film begins in the Dutch city of Haarlem in January, 1945. While much of Western Europe had already been liberated from the Nazis by then, most of the Netherlands remained under the firm grip of Nazi control. The winter of 1944-1945 was the infamous “Hunger Winter” in the Netherlands.

It is hard for white, middle-class Americans to picture “people like us” starving. Our usual image of starvation is that of naked, fly covered Third World children with bloated stomachs. It was a real eye-opener to see educated, upper-middle class, Dutch people like Anton’s family eating their meager daily ration of broth with fine china and silverware.

On one fateful night in January 1945, a Dutch Nazi named Ploeg is gunned down in front of the Steenwejks' house by members of the leftwing Dutch resistance. The GESTAPO (Geheime Staatspolizei, Secret State Police) retaliates by shooting many innocent citizens and burning down the Steenwejks’ house. Anton’s parents and brother are among the Nazi victims, but Anton is taken into custody by Dutch police and does not find out about his family’s fate until some time later. Throughout the rest of the film, Anton gradually learns the details of this night by encountering various people with knowledge of Ploeg’s murder. Anton receives his first clues while a medical student in 1952 and never learns the full story until the film’s conclusion in at an antinuclear weapons demonstration in 1983.

I will not give away any of the details of what happened on the night of Ploeg’s murder and the subsequent massacre of innocent citizens of Haarlem. I will also not mention the chance circumstances by which Anton gradually learns of the events which ultimately lead to the death of his family. I will mention, however, that the important historical and cultural events of the Cold War serve as a backdrop as Anton discovers the events of the fateful night piece by piece. The underlying theme throughout the film is how various Dutch people perceive the struggle between the capitalist democracies of the West against communism.

The one glaring weakness in this film was the dubbing. I admit, I am no fan of dubbed films and would always rather hear the original language with subtitles. I almost didn’t watch this film when I realized it was dubbed. Mismatched lips and voices and awkward translations are fine in the campy, Euro-trash sexploitation comedies I am so fond of. In fact, it adds to the humour. However, there is no place for poor dubbing in a serious film like ASSAULT. I believe most true cinephiles also abhor dubbing and ironically, those with an aversion to subtitles would not likely rent a film like ASSAULT in the first place.

If you can get over dubbing, ASSAULT is definitely worth watching. It provides excellent incite into the Dutch view of their role in WWII and as a member of NATO during the Cold War.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older