Definitely better than I had expected going in. A tense period piece with the war as a distant background and the cat and mouse game of the Wehrmacht security forces and their collaborators against Dutch resistance fighters in the foreground.
The way Riphagen, a criminal who makes the best of the situation, plays his victims and his enemies is like watching a snake curling its way through a buffalo stampede of self-righteous characters and thoroughly enjoyable.
Especially interesting is the fast pace that allows for a second half that shows how the approaching end of the war unleashed a whirlwind of internally divided Dutch nationalism that started lashing out against anyone deemed a collaborator and was already preparing for the fight against the communists.
The way Riphagen, a criminal who makes the best of the situation, plays his victims and his enemies is like watching a snake curling its way through a buffalo stampede of self-righteous characters and thoroughly enjoyable.
Especially interesting is the fast pace that allows for a second half that shows how the approaching end of the war unleashed a whirlwind of internally divided Dutch nationalism that started lashing out against anyone deemed a collaborator and was already preparing for the fight against the communists.