When you think of a WW2 film, what springs to mind? You might think of some sort of plucky hero in a leather fighter jacket, pistol-of-the-era in-hand with an amorphous explosion of fire and burning Nazis flaring up behind them. Imagining that image in your head, therefore, seems a lot more exciting than some bankers in Amsterdam secretly funding a Dutch resistance with a 'shadow bank' - but that notion is pretty far from the truth...sort of.
What do I mean by sort of? First, what works about the film? Well, what mainly carries 'The Resistance Banker' are the performances, with plenty of poignant moments: Walraven or 'Wally', the intelligent but cock-sure mastermind of the shadow bank who's known by the pseudonym, 'van Tuyl'; his brother, Gijs, who is far more wary and cautious of helping his brother fund the Dutch resistance but is constantly being roped into Wally's schemes anyway; and...that's it. Sure - there's a number of other characters that help out the brothers, but they are not nearly as fleshed out as they could have been - despite every actor's strong performance.
...Which brings me onto why the execution of this film is so-so. To compound these issues with characterisation, the plot of the film often falls into the trap of being repetitive - and thus, much more explicitly reveals how 'one-note' the characters often feel. Gijs, for example, never really grows as a character and doesn't undergo a transformation as you would expect - being influenced by his brother and all, and growing more and more involved in his schemes. But no, his progression is formulaic: Wally comes up with an idea, Gijs says "it'll never work" or something along those lines and then, inevitably, helps him out anyway. This happens constantly and quickly grows tiresome. It often makes the film seem like it's traveling in a circle - repeating itself over and over, and before long, it became quite tedious. This lessened the impact of many of the scenes, like the treasury bond heist and Wally's death at the hands of the Nazis near the end which is well-shot and acted brilliantly by Barry Atsma (Wally) as he finds a moment of peace thinking of his children just before he is summarily shot.
Other than issues with the plot, most of the other aspects of the film are good: particularly, the cinematography, with a number of really nice shots throughout and a variety of hues which match the tone of the narrative at that point in time: summer and warm colours in the early scenes, winter and cold colours by the end. The cinematography also drew attention to the excellent costume and environmental design, both of which feel authentic and fully realised. It's a shame, therefore, that the plot at the core of this film feels so lackluster at times.
Overall: 'The Resistance Banker' manages to make its seemingly dull premise interesting, if not engaging - largely due to the real events and real people it is based on. What happens in the film is almost certainly dramatized extensively for cinematic effect, and it is far from being an exemplary period film, but it brings to light an organisation of people that is oft-forgotten by history.
What do I mean by sort of? First, what works about the film? Well, what mainly carries 'The Resistance Banker' are the performances, with plenty of poignant moments: Walraven or 'Wally', the intelligent but cock-sure mastermind of the shadow bank who's known by the pseudonym, 'van Tuyl'; his brother, Gijs, who is far more wary and cautious of helping his brother fund the Dutch resistance but is constantly being roped into Wally's schemes anyway; and...that's it. Sure - there's a number of other characters that help out the brothers, but they are not nearly as fleshed out as they could have been - despite every actor's strong performance.
...Which brings me onto why the execution of this film is so-so. To compound these issues with characterisation, the plot of the film often falls into the trap of being repetitive - and thus, much more explicitly reveals how 'one-note' the characters often feel. Gijs, for example, never really grows as a character and doesn't undergo a transformation as you would expect - being influenced by his brother and all, and growing more and more involved in his schemes. But no, his progression is formulaic: Wally comes up with an idea, Gijs says "it'll never work" or something along those lines and then, inevitably, helps him out anyway. This happens constantly and quickly grows tiresome. It often makes the film seem like it's traveling in a circle - repeating itself over and over, and before long, it became quite tedious. This lessened the impact of many of the scenes, like the treasury bond heist and Wally's death at the hands of the Nazis near the end which is well-shot and acted brilliantly by Barry Atsma (Wally) as he finds a moment of peace thinking of his children just before he is summarily shot.
Other than issues with the plot, most of the other aspects of the film are good: particularly, the cinematography, with a number of really nice shots throughout and a variety of hues which match the tone of the narrative at that point in time: summer and warm colours in the early scenes, winter and cold colours by the end. The cinematography also drew attention to the excellent costume and environmental design, both of which feel authentic and fully realised. It's a shame, therefore, that the plot at the core of this film feels so lackluster at times.
Overall: 'The Resistance Banker' manages to make its seemingly dull premise interesting, if not engaging - largely due to the real events and real people it is based on. What happens in the film is almost certainly dramatized extensively for cinematic effect, and it is far from being an exemplary period film, but it brings to light an organisation of people that is oft-forgotten by history.