Die Schlacht um die Schelde

September 1944. The Allies have captured the port of Antwerp but the Germans still control the Scheldt estuary, preventing supplies reaching Antwerp and the Allied forces. Walcheren Island is key to the German's defence. Operation Market Garden is launched, hoping to penetrate directly into Germany via Arnhem in Holland. A glider from this operation is forced to crash land on Walcheren, leaving a handful of British troops trapped behind enemy lines. Meanwhile a Dutch teenager accidentally kills three Germans, causing a tragic chain of events. On the German staff is a Dutch soldier who now starts to question where his loyalties lie.

An interesting war drama. Covers a lesser-known campaign of WW2, the battles for the Scheldt Estuary (and the Battle of Walcheren in particular) and does so in reasonably entertaining and engaging fashion. A decent enough plot, covering the battle from many sides, with some good action scenes and CGI.

Not brilliant though. The plot is a bit clumsy at times and some aspects seem dumbed-down. The focus of the film is also at a micro level so you don't much information on the bigger picture and the effort involved in the opening up of the Scheldt estuary. While the civilian aspect was interesting much of the time taken on it could have been better spent.

I enjoyed this movie very much, although enjoying isn't the right term. It shows the senselessness of war for most of those involved. Praise to the young actors, who did an exceptional job considering the script didn't give their roles a lot of depth. I particularly liked Gijs Blom who plays the part of a Dutch boy in the German service. The German commander was too stereotypically evil for my taste, but other than that this film is certainly in my top three of Dutch war movies. Go see it on the big screen, support your local cinema!

Based on true events in Belgium/Netherlands of Allies recapturing the Port Of Antwerp, and the battle to expel the Germans forces still holding onto the critical North Sea seaport channel (the Scheldt) near the end of WWII in Europe.

The film takes it to the ground and personal level, focused on three young protagonists, a British glider pilot, a Dutch-born German solder, and a Dutch civilian girl.

The film is excellent in every regard, winning multiple Dutch film festival awards including Best Film of 2020.

An intimate portrayal of characters based on true events, this film holds back nothing in telling its story.

I'll leave the synopsis at that so as not to give away too much detail, but worth the view for certain.

Photography, direction, sound editing, casting, acting, battle scenes, and even the thankfully subtle soundtrack fill are all spot on excellent.

*Approximately two-thirds of the dialogue is in English, appropriately interspersed with German and Dutch and clear subtitles, making it an easy watch even for those who avoid subtitle films.

One of the best foreign (Dutch) WWII films you will find, and I highly recommend seeing it.

De slag om de Schelde (2020) is a Dutch movie co-written and directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. It was shown in the U. S. with the title "The Forgotten Battle." The actual title translates as "The Battle of the Scheldt." We in the U. S. may never have heard of it. That's because Canadian troops bore the brunt of the battle against the Germans. I'm sure it's not a forgotten battle in Canada or Holland.

Gijs Blom portrays Marinus van Staveren, a Dutch citizen who is fighting on the side of the Germans. He hates Jews--and probably Communists--so he volunteered to fight in the German army. When the movie opens, he's fighting on the Russian front, but he gets transferred to Holland.

Jamie Flatters plays William Sinclair. He's a British glider pilot, but his glider is shot down and he lands in Holland.

Susan Radder plays Teuntje Visser, a Dutch woman who works in the mayor's office. Jan Bijvoet portrays her father--Doctor Visser--who treats Germans and Dutch equally well.

The complexity of the movie is the interaction among these people, as the Canadian forces try to overcome the German forces in the area called The Scheldt. (I checked, and it really was important for the allies to possess the region, and equally important for the Germans to prevent this.)

Of course, in a war movie, there's going to be blood and carnage. However, what keeps this film from being just another WWII movie is the complicated plot, that goes in directions you may not expect.

De slag om de Schelde has a pretty weak IMDb rating of 7.1. I thought it was better than that, and rated it 8.

Being from Belgium myself I found this movie very interesting to watch. De battle for the Schelde (a river in The Netherlands and Belgium that is the main entrance for the harbor of Antwerpen) is strategically very important. For once no battle of the bulge, Normandy, or other famous battles, but one that has not been filmed before. The Netherlands and Belgium don't release a lot of movies but when they do it's most of the time quality, and so is this one. You don't necessary have to have Hollywood budgets to make a good movie. Unknown actors (at least to the wider audience) performed really well in this war/drama. The battle scenes looked very realistic, hard and brutal. But it's not only about the battle scenes, it's also about the oppressor and the oppressed, what people felt like in those days and in that area. Zeeland is a beautiful part of The Netherlands and even though they filmed it in Lithuania (mostly because of budgetary problems) it really looked like Zeeland (a place I visited many times). De Slag Om De Schelde (or The Forgotten Battle for the English title) will please anyone that is interested in WW II, not only for Belgians and Dutch people.