User reviews

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

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

I panicked at first when I saw it was dubbed--I hate dubbing-but then I found the original Dutch setting with English subtitles, so good to go. It was good to see bankers as heroes rather than the usual villains. However, the Dutch being Dutch and bankers being bankers, these resistance fighters expected to be reimbursed, so they kept meticulous records. Bad idea.

The history surrounding the film is fascinating and the location shooting is great, but the story plods and the acting is middling.

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

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

During world war two, many private companies helped the local citizens resist the occupation by the germans. In this case, it's a bank in netherlands that did what it could to help its own citizens. At the open, someone is being questioned, and we jump to flashback. Wally, a bigshot in the bank, has agreed to help finance the underground resistance operations, even beyond what he has been promised by the dutch government. As the various groups agree to strike, they are taking a huge risk, since its illegal to strike. And to finance the underground groups, of course. And to even cash in the bank's own deposits to raise money to give to the underground. It's good.. probably would have been even more suspense-ful if i hadn't seen soldier of orange, or the other films where the dutch resist the germans. Directed by Joram Lürsen. Pretty good!

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.