Sarentrol Masterful Cinema

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

larapha At present times, it's impossible not to not to note the pedophiles connotations of the movie. After all, we have a young but mature soldier making love to a pubescent youth. But is it all? The relationship that develops between them is very sweet, and one couldn't say is not consensual. We know better that gay feelings are preexisting in many boys very early, and he must have felt very solitary before the emergence of the soldier. Our present legislation and morals wouldn't give a chance to the love of the two boys. But is that reasonable? Not for the morals of the film, who presents the relationship of the two as something quite natural. It's a polemic film, that can lead us to think as of present costumes in a dialectic way. Are we correct in judging as bad as we should such a tender relationship, coming out of the terrors of war, and which gave so permanent good feelings to the minor involved?

tre_gibbs I will be the first to admit that the subject matter is a bit risqué for the typical American movie goer. However, keep in mind that this is told exclusively from the viewpoint of the child. It is also done in a realistic and yet romantic way. The child is obviously longing for comfort and security, having been removed from the security of his family during WWII. In addition to being placed into a foster home, a pubescent Jeroen finds himself realizing his budding sexuality is that of one who is attracted to the same sex, which also adds to the feelings of loneliness and isolation. This film deals with a difficult topic, but does it in a way that simply tells a story with enormous feeling and sophistication.It reminds me of being a young man and wondering what it would be like to feel safe and comforted in the arms of someone older with whom I had complete trust and with whom I was enamored.Not everyone will see it this way - only the pure of heart.

ninoguapo I have to admit that I haven't read the book and after reading comments about it – I am not sure that I will read it at all. The movie however is superb. I have watched it several times by now – with friends of mine and alone. The main character is a young Dutch boy - Jeroen, played by Maarten Smit . He falls in love with Canadian soldier during the time he spends away from Amsterdam in a small village. He is send there by his mother, in order to avoid the starvation in the big Dutch cities during the world war when the food there was never enough.While watching this movie – you will have to decide for yourself if the relationship presented in the movie is acceptable to you or not. The theme song stuck in my mind – as well as and one of my favorite scenes in which Jeroen and Walt run in the field in a very unique way. To me this movie is mainly about friendship, then love – the relationship with Walt made the boy happy, just look the way he smiles when they have their picture taken in one of the scenes. At the same time the ending leaves some questions unanswered- both to the boys and to me as a viewer – was the Canadian soldier just taking an advantage of the boy? And if that is the case I will be disgusted from him. But what if he really loved – but then why he left him? As the movie focuses on the memories of Jeroen , we see that even as an adult he hasn't forget his hero- so there was love and one can only hope this feeling was shared by both main characters.

bill-894 A friend urged me to watch this movie and I did so with absolutely no idea of what it was about.Everything others have said about it is true but still I feel very uneasy about the subject matter and the "acceptable" way in which it is portrayed.This little boy is just that, a little boy and whether you're straight or gay, relationships between adults and children are taboo. The validity of that taboo can be argued but it exists not to protect the adult but to protect the child.An interesting movie but the subject matter prevents it from being great.