The Resistance Banker (2018) User Reviews

Very Good Story

[davidwile · 7/10 · 12 September 2018]

Hey folks,

As an American and unable to speak any language other than English, I rarely watch any foreign films. The story itself did seem interesting, and when I found the film on Netflix was in English and included subtitles, I thought I would at least give it ten minutes or so to see if I would find it worth watching.

While I knew none of the actors or others who produced this film, I did find the story to be quite captivating even though I did not understand the banking mechanics involved in financing the resistance. The acting was very good in my opinion, and I found I was able to navigate the story well enough with the English speech and subtitles.

If one is expecting an action-adventure film, one would be better off skipping this film. On the other hand, if one can appreciate a well paced film that tells a very good story, then this film does that quite well. I have always loved a good story.

Best wishes, Dave Wile

From a time when resistance actually meant something.

[jerosystems · 8/10 · 22 September 2018]

Great story, great acting, great pace. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know about the great people this movie is dedicated to, but this film does a great job of introducing me to this interesting part of history that shows what it takes to trully resist tyranny. Echt een fantastische film!

The Dutch Resistance

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 10 April 2019]

Bankier van het Verzet, the Resistance Banker from 2018 is the true story of one of the great Dutch heroes, Walraven van Hall, who helped to finance the resistance during World War II.

The acting is superb in all respects, and it is a gripping if simplified story, and it was well-researched by the filmmakers.

Someone said they became confused in the middle - I don't know why, but I wasn't confused.

There are some uncomfortable scenes, but the film does show what the Dutch people suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

One suggestion - watch the film through the credits.

Evil thrives when good men do nothing. Walraven van Hall, his brother, and other resistance members were all good men. And they did plenty.

Born in Holland - Biased film review here

[ablack90 · 7/10 · 23 September 2018]

I was born in Holland so watching this film was very rewarding. This film is quite good.

Van Halls was one of thousands of WWII resistance heroes. This story is told from the unique perspective of how the Dutch resistance was financed by the heroic efforts of Wally Van Hall and his brother to fraud half a billion Euros out of the Dutch bank that had been taken over by Nazi Germany and funnel it to the resistance movement.

The film shows the extent of these men and women's courage, as many were caught and many families torn apart as a consequence.

Worthwhile film to see.

Not every banker

[paaskynen · 7/10 · 5 January 2019]

Foreign viewers will inevitably find it hard to judge the valiant actions of the protagonists in this movie at their true value. Resisting the German occupation of the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation meant risking your life as well as the life of your family, literally. What the protagonists in this move achieved was hugely important even though none of them ever fired a gun. They saved the lives of thousands with their financial machinations. Let credit be with those bankers who earned it... there are plenty who did not...

Good story and acting, scripting and editing could be much better

[krijn-110-806370 · 6/10 · 11 January 2019]

This movie is not bad at all but it is very disappointing to see a good story with the best actors the Dutch have to offer, is downgraded by poor editing and scripting.

The story is solid. It's small, heroic and smart. In the movie the story is not kept simple enough. I believe it's hard to follow sometimes. It leaves to many question-marks in the start of the movie. At first I thought the bankers where guarding/saving the money of Jews which where put on transport so that they could safely get it back after the war. Then I understood the bankers where raising and loaning money to fund the resistance. The way they do this is smart but the audience is puzzled because it's not explained good enough in the movie. Eventually it becomes clear that the movie is not about the way they do it... but about the risk they take doing it.

The acting is great and the look and feel of the movie is so convincing that you really feel in Amsterdam of the 1940's. The shining wooden doors and table's, the buildings, streets, the snow and the props used are great.

The pace of the movie is a bit too quick if you ask me. Editing is messy sometimes and this has a negative affect on the tention build-up. Especially in the midsection of the movie where there is a great swapping trick.

The movie certainly is worth watching because it's beautifully filmed, casted and the story is strong.

Glad to have learned about this but...

[donniefriedman · 7/10 · 24 September 2018]

The story of Dutch banking employees financing the Resistance during the German occupation is a fascinating and inspiring one. I wish I could say as much for this movie. The acting was amazing, and the settings were very evocative. So was the general atmosphere pervading the underground's activities. But something was askew with the editing and/or the way in which the story unfolded. I had a lot of trouble following it especially during the middle section. I wasn't always clear on who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. I'm still glad I saw it, and would recommend it despite its shortcomings.

Interesting puzzle of the Nazi time

[Luigi Di Pilla · 7/10 · 4 January 2019]

I discovered this interesting movie from the Second World War on Netflix. It's based on a true story about the resistance in the Netherlands just before it was liberated from the allies. The sceneries and atmosphere were well executed, bravo. Now I know more about the secret roles the opponents had. It's very dramatic to see what really happened at that time. All the actors delivered a significant performance and the director did a great job too. God bless all the courageous people who fighted against the brutal Nazis regime. Worth seeing. Check out the other great one Operation Finale. 7/10

Very impressive

[rugbysharks · 9/10 · 15 September 2018]

So glad this came up in the Netflix recommended section. Anyone interested in modern European history should watch it. Acting and direction throughout was excellent I thought, it really did seem like we were witnessing wartime Amsterdam and all the hopes and fears of the brave people who resisted a brutal foreign occupation. Not for the faint hearted either. The movie gives a very realistic & sometimes graphic account of how a primarily civilian resistance movement not only has to outfox military intelligence, but also the craven collaborators amongst the ranks of their fellow citizens, and the consequences of such acts of heroism.

The Story had to be known

[henray71 · 6/10 · 28 March 2018]

A big inspiration for Dutch movies is WWII : loads of great movies have been made. This story is one that has to be told but the execution of the story was not to my satisfaction: unnecessary complicated, slow at times. For me not something I would recommend to friends

Impressive Cast and Cinematography

[pbottjen · 9/10 · 18 September 2018]

Outstanding job, Cast! I felt it was a great ensemble effort. To the film crew and set designers, beautiful work. I don't speak Dutch and enjoyed the native language and would have been disappointed to watch it in English. Turn on the subtitles and enjoy the authenticity of the real actors and not the voice-overs. Not understanding those who gave this film such low ratings. You might find that a great story, like this one, has to develop slowly and intently in order to convey the depth of the script and story line. The pace was beautifully executed. This film delivered perfectly. Thank you Netflix for bringing this to the American screen. A story that needed to be shared.

Properly dark and dismaying

[dierregi · 7/10 · 7 February 2021]

A new take on resistance during WWII, this movie is about a bunch of Dutch bankers who found a way to finance needy parties (being them workers on strike, ex soldiers stranded abroad or underground fighters).

After running their scheme for over two years, too many people got involved and some were bound to spill their guts to the Germans. Dramatic events ensue.

The tale is told by Gijs, brother of Willy van Hall, the banker who in 1942 set the scheme in motion in Amsterdam, shocked by the violent events around him. He built an efficient ring, managed under the pseudonym of van Tuyl. The pseudonym saved him for a long while, but towards the end of 1944, thinking the allied were going to liberate Holland any minute, van Hall got a bit reckless.

The narration avoids most cliches of the genre, showing van Hall as a family man and an ethical guy disgusted by senseless brutality. Most of the film takes place in desolated and/or dark locations to give a good idea of the cold and hunger suffered by most Dutch people during the war.

Inevitably, a narration about banking fraudes is bound to border on the boring, despite some action (mostly about ring members being captured and tortured) and a good 20 minutes could be edited to make a slender and gripping tale.

The actors are quite good with Barry Atsma as van Hall leading the cast. The end credits show clips of the real van Hall and you will notice that Atsma looks nothing like him, but since van Hall was not famous, the lack of resemblance is in no way relevant.

If the real Resistance acted this way, the Nazis would have won the war.

[Xoirosvestis · 2/10 · 14 November 2023]

The cons: 1. Poor description of the way they created the secret fund. They characters said they could and POOF, like magic it is done. No realistic details.

2. Bipolar characterization of the protagonist. In some scenes he acts all serious (as he should in circumstances such as these) and in others he behaves like an overzealous and clueless child.

3. Resistance members discussing clandestine details in public areas with an echo. Very, very smart and professional. And there are a lot of scenes like that.

4. Member meetings in broad daylight, with no effort by the film-makers to show the measures they took to assemble safely and secretly. Apparently, more than 10 people can walk into an empty building without a care in the world.

5. The resistance blows up the registry building and the protagonist's family has gathered on the opposite side of the river to see the spectacle while cheering and yelling. Next time, throw in a picnic party as well.

6. Childish suspense scenes, ripped off from every American movie trope, example: the impromptu ploy to get the treasury bonds from the clerk.

7. It has even the stereotypical ''throw-money-into-the-air & get drunk'' scene as if taken from a movie glorifying drug dealers. This movie is a hubris to every person that participated in the Resistance during the war, in every country that had a resistance movement.

8. the shootout scene in the church with a distance less than 5m between the engaging parties . Two words: stormtrooper aim.

The pros: 1. Beautiful cinematography 2. The music score 3. Production design.

A good period drama...kind of.

[RagingDraugr · 6/10 · 22 February 2019]

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.

Why Change So Many Real Facts?

[Smuir · 6/10 · 25 December 2018]

I enjoyed watching this movie, which educated me about a story I had not heard about earlier. It's well acted, but the script is amateurish and the running time is unnecessarily long. What bothers me most is that other reviewers at this site treat it as if it's a documentary. It isn't. Just as other historically based movies alter the facts for dramatic purposes (see the book Past Imperfect), this one does so in three seemingly unnecessary ways: 1 the Nazis were largely unaware of the illegal bank and its operations, 2 even when he was arrested, they did not know about van Hall's specific involvement with the bank (he was arrested because he was in the resistance in general)l, and 3 he-and other resistors-were killed in retaliation for the assassination of a prominent Nazi. The changes are baffling, because the real facts seem to me to be as compelling as the fiction created in this film. Another fact that was left out is that proportionately, the Netherlands fielded the largest proportion of resistors based on population (after Poland) in all of Europe. The film is worth seeing especially if it is not regardedd as the "truth."

Put your money where your ...

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 27 March 2019]

Who would have thought that a money related movie, would be a good movie about fighting Nazis. Obviously based on reality, though I haven't read up on the differences if there are any to real life incidents. Overall this is really engaging, even if some may think that not to be true, due to the banking nature/theme of the movie.

I always like seeing movies that offer a different perspective or something that one could call a history lesson. And it is not so much about how bad and/or evil the Nazis were, but how it impacted different countries at the time. It obviously still impacts the thinking of people and there is reason to read up on this particular point and place in history. The movie is a good start for that - very well done and acted

Subtitles

[ellamolenaar · 7/10 · 25 November 2018]

Wish it would have had subtitles, even in the original language. Watching this in Dutch and being Dutch the sound is horrible, can't hear what the actors say. But that's always a problem with Dutch movies.

The paint strokes are an important key to understand the big picture.

[bola_de_pu · 7/10 · 30 September 2018]

It's unbelievable that producers and directors keep finding ways to do stories, the good ones, about the Nazis, or at least, about the people, events, memories and conflicts that happen during that unforgettable moments in european history. It's amazing how a bigger story is always hidden in the simple things. This movie is another example that life is all the time linked to small stories, which at first seem unimportant,but in the end have just given meaning to life itself. Barry Atsma was incredible in this one, and always it's nice to see unknown performers give outstanding performances and interpretations and show to the world that the movies without the gigantic promo and budget can be great pieces of work too.

Stunning film for a great man

[ianrobo · 9/10 · 12 September 2018]

We all know the stories of the people who risked all to help others in WW2. This is one I was never aware of before and so when it came up on Netflix, I thought give it a go.

Stunning movie, emotional and a story for the ages and especially now with the far right on the rise. For someone to say it was too slow is crazy and I recommend this film alongside the great WW2 movies.

Courage in the Storm

[frankwiener · 7/10 · 27 September 2020]

Outside the cramped Amsterdam attic where the Frank and Van Pels families hid during the dark years of the German occupation of Holland, Wally van Hall and his more reluctant brother, Gijs, freely but cautiously walked the streets of the city as they successfully financed the Dutch resistance during World War II. This is a compelling story, based on a true story, about risking all that is important in order to oppose tyranny and totalitarianism. It is well acted, especially by leads Barry Atsma and Jacob Derwig, and ably directed by Joram Lursen.

Viewers should be prepared for very disturbing scenes of mass summary executions. As I watched, I thought of the millions of such horrific acts that actually occurred from one end of Europe to the other during this period. As painful as these incidents are to view, they were real, and we will never truly understand the worst of human history unless we witness it as it actually was.

Although some reviewers had trouble with the intricacies of the financial transactions, as I did, the actual details were even more complicated than those portrayed in the film. My only criticism is that the unappealing title might turn away many viewers who need to see this film and who would appreciate it far more than its initial impression suggests.

As was the case with those brave Dutch citizens who helped the Frank and Van Pels families in hiding, individuals who dared to oppose actively the military might and brutality of the Nazi regime were extraordinary people, especially when they could have easily turned away to pursue safe and comfortable lives in compliance with the evil status quo. What still amazes me is how the worst instances of human behavior can generate the finest acts of human conduct and heroism. May all of the heroes of World War II, including the van Hall brothers, never be forgotten.

Authentic story, respectfully told in movie

[nelleke-97387 · 9/10 · 22 March 2018]

This film is one in the long series of Dutch WWII stories, that are important to keep on telling because there is news in it, and things we did not now. It is well made, seen from the perspective of drama and direction. Modern with many close-ups and sudden overviews. This is somewhat overwhelming, but it also connects the spectator to as well the private world of the persons in the film, as to the overall situation. Locations are very convincing brought to life and the actors play there roles without showing off. Small and good acting, which works for the camera best. About the contents: It shows to me clearly that war forces people to make choices that one cannot make. A warning that we should never get into war again. It's to me also a movie that shows that the resistance in the Netherlands did its utmost to help, but that there were a lot of barrieres and much pressure from the Germans to disturb everything. This, unfortunately, took the life of too many. The film is also made with much respect to the family of the person who is the maincharacter, and who died at the end of the war. Most convincing in it is also that one can see the maincharacter has problems in not thinking too big, too fast. This, obviously, brings him closer to us as when we see movies of heroes that are limitedless figures. Here there is a human being, who has to make tough decisions and we understand that some things went wrong. Still it is not too sentimental! Good job!

Awful slow pacing for an incredible story

[maccas-56367 · 6/10 · 12 November 2019]

One of those odd films, where there always seems to be something happening yet the film never feels like it's going anywhere. Such an important story that deserved to be told with better pacing.

I often felt confused by what was going on and this made me feel less invested in what I was watching. How exciting do you find doing your tax returns? Because this often felt like that. A lot of numbers, checks and briefcases bouncing around and men in long coats wandering snowy footpaths while looking suspiciously at people. I wanted to love this, but it never grabbed me.

There was nothing seriously wrong with the performances here - but a lot that wasn't right with the screenplay and disjointed way in which the film was presented. It could've done with at least 30 minutes sliced off the running time.

Despite its downfalls, it has inspired me to read up a lot more about the Dutch Resistance and in particular the heroic Walraven van Hall.

Starting slowly

[edwinvossen · 5/10 · 11 August 2018]

The film is starting very slowly. furthermore, the explanation of some of the most important subjects is stepped over too quickly. For example, the meaning of the 'Zeemanspot' was not really clear.

Dubbed always kills it!

[janecreates-1 · 6/10 · 25 January 2019]

Great idea to make this film and worthy piece of history but why not just shoot In dual dialog? Then make a Dutch accented film in English with optional subtitles in English in case the odd word is hard to hear! Far better than dubbing after it's such a shame. Thing is most of the actors probably speak English anyway! This would also make it a far easier sell worldwide and also still have an original Dutch language film too! I bet it's comparable price wise

Did everything it wanted to be and was exactly that.

[tluisman · 7/10 · 10 July 2021]

Everything was as expected, which is not a big problem, but somehow i expected more. The film didn't make me feel much emotionally. The cinematography was excellent and the story was well written.