Caminhos da Sobrevivência

During war and conflict survival trumps all else. There are different ways to survive for ordinary civilians.

However, as a police officer in German occupied Antwerp, Belgium Wil's options are limited. Does he collaborate and watch other civilians die brutally at the hands of the German Gestapo? Does he join the resistance and fight the German occupation?

There are no easy answers in this - or in life. Sometimes it even becomes hard - or impossible - to change course midstream in the extreme circumstances precipated by war.

As a movie, Wil adroitly puts on screen the complexities of life and the choices required to survive during wartime. The film is well acted, realistic though slow - hence the seven stars.

There's probably deliberate ambiguity in the title of this Belgian-made film about the wartime German occupation of Antwerp, with a double-meaning of the central character's name and ultimately his will for self-preservation in deciding between conscience and sacrifice when your life and more importantly, those of others, depends on it.

It's 1941 and we're immediately dropped in on the German Army overseeing their control of the city police force. It's an uneasy time and it's clear the captain in charge is no German lapdog. Later, on his way to work at night in absolutely filthy weather along with his friend and fellow-cop Lode, is the young, recently inducted Wil. Corralled by a German soldier into accompanying him in rooting out a family of Jews, both the young men are immediately tested by subsequent events and come down in favour of the angels in rescuing the family, but their intervention precipitates a terrible retribution by the Nazis whose young, smooth-talking commandant exacts bloody revenge on a rounded-up group of innocent Communist sympathisers, ruthlessly carried out by his grinning goon second-in-command.

Completely unnerved by these events, Wil is pulled this way and that with his obligations to his own family, his introduction to the Belgian Resistance group, his growing relationship with the initially distrusting sister of Lode and finally the expectation that he will subjugate himself to the Nazis and lead them to the truth about what really happened to their missing officer and by extension go on to hunt down and exterminate the local Resistance.

Be warned, this isn't a film for the faint-hearted containing as it does several scenes of look-away brutality, murder and torture. It all ends with Wil having to make his own mind up as to whether he puts his instinct for self-preservation over his inherent humanity and compassion for others. His dilemma is reminiscent, if in a more extreme way, of Winston Smith's in Orwell's "1984" and you probably know how that ends...

This is a dark and bleak feature which holds up a "what would you do?" mirror in front of the viewer and this, even more than some of the graphically harrowing scenes depicted, makes it an uneasy watch.

The ensemble acting is excellent. Lead Stef Aerts in the title role is presented to us initially as a naive, idealistic youth caught in the headlights by events, with his cherubic looks and almost angelic golden curls he resembles a young Art Garfunkel, but as events overtake him, we see him cauterized into the barbaric automaton he becomes at the end. Annelore Crollet as his girlfriend acts as the moral conscience of the film, taking over that role from her brother and it's she who delivers the final verdict on his actions at the movie's shocking climax.

Filmed in hyper-realistic style by Tim Mielants, while I considered there to be one or two implausible plot-jumps and might have welcomed at least some beacons of hope in the narrative, this was nevertheless a compelling study of the opposing psychologies of the oppressors and the oppressed in wartime.

Wars are mostly perceived as morally unambiguous. The Russians are the bad guys, the Ukrainians are the good ones. Before that, the communists were bad and the west was good. And before that, the Germans were the villains and the resistance fighters were the heroes.

In reality, it's not always clear cut. Who is bad and who is good is sometimes the result of mere circumstances. Of meeting certain people, of doing certain jobs. This is what the Flemish film 'Wil' is about. It shows how in Antwerp during the second World War, some people helped the Germans and the resistance fighters at the same time. Not because they couldn't decide what was morally wrong or right, but because circumstances forced them to, and because deep down, they preferred to stay on the sidelines.

Wil, the main character, is a low-ranking policeman in Antwerp who gets involved in an incident with a German officer. It can cost him his life. Most of the film shows how he tries to cope with this fact, and how people around him make various choices, thus influencing his own fate. The ending of the film is very dramatic, and illustrates how making moral choices differs from not doing that. Deciding not to stay on the sidelines can have an extreme impact.

The film is beautifully shot in dark, sombre colours, accentuating the difficulties of the war years. The acting is top notch, which shouldn't surprise because the cast consists of some of the best Flemish actors. This is a different kind of war movie, which inevitably makes every viewer wonder which choices he or she would have made. And to that question, there are no easy answers.

Despite the poor title(the character isn't referred to that much, even more so for the audience to remember his name) and a uninvolving romantic sub plot with his friend's sister that is underwritten, this is a chilly, well acted drama.

Like Munich: The Edge of War and One Life the German occupation is a catalyst in providing a tense background for a story where anything can happen.

I thought the bleakness added to the overall tragedy especially at the end, which may alienate some hoping for a happy ending.

With The Zone of Interest and One Life , the topic of the Holocaust is still prevalent and important.

I went to see this movie because I absolutely loved Mielants' first film, De Patrick. I knew nothing about Wil, and didn't read the book, but went solely because it was another film by Mielants. And it did not disappoint.

The story is a bit thin (you can kind of guess where the movie's going), but the cinematography is beautiful, and the acting is very solid. I was not bored throughout the movie, and was also moved emotionally, especially near the end. While it's an entirely different type of movie from De Patrick, you recognise Mielants' signature style in it. Visually it's a also very impressive movie.

The choice to crop the screen so that it feels more like a movie of old; and the way the movie is shot very up close and personal in all actors' faces, really contributes to the suspension and feeling of unease. The score and music of the movie was also amazing.

I think this is a very strong movie made by one of Belgium's most talented directors.