Banker of the Resistance (2018)

Directed by: Joram Lürsen | 123 minutes | drama, war | Actors: Barry Atsma, Jacob Derwig, Pierre Bokma, Fockeline Ouwerkerk, Raymond Thiry, Daan Aufenacker, Michel den Hartog, Allard Geerlings, Filip Hellemans, Tom Magnus, Peter Rene, Jochum ten Haaf, Bart van der Schaaf, Violette Vandervelden

He has always remained relatively unknown, but Walraven (Wally) van Hall’s story is as incredible as it is impressive and deserves an audience. Joram Lürsen, the director of ‘Everything is Love’ (2007), ‘Everything is Family’ (2012) and ‘Public works’ (2015) also thought so. “Make no mistake: Walraven van Hall was a real hero,” said Lürsen. “During the Second World War, he and his brother Gijs not only managed to unite the resistance, but also to finance it. First through bonds and loans, and when that turned out to be not enough by robbing the Dutch Central Bank. And then we are talking about enormous amounts, rising to a current value of about half a billion euros. Under the eyes of one of the greatest collaborators in the Netherlands. And all this at the risk of his own life and that of his family. It may be called a miracle that it worked, an incredible story.”

That story has now been filmed under the title ‘Banker of the Resistance’ (2018). When banker Walraven van Hall (Barry Atsma) is asked during the Second World War by a resistance member with the pseudonym Van den Berg (Raymond Thiry) whether he would like to use his financial contacts for the resistance, he does not hesitate for long. Together with his more hesitant brother Gijs (Jacob Derwig), he devises a risky construction to take out large loans with which to finance a support fund for seamen. When the resistance grows and more money is needed to keep things going, the brothers devise the largest bank fraud in Dutch history: tens of millions of guilders are seen under the eye of the occupiers and NSB top man and also president of the Nederlandsche Bank Meinoud. Rost van Tonningen (Pierre Bokma) funneled out of the national vault. But the larger the operation becomes, the more people know about it. Every day the chance increases that someone will make that one mistake that can end the actions and life of the banker of the resistance.

Lürsen and screenwriters Marieke van de Pol and Thomas van der Ree turned this relatively unknown piece of Dutch history into a classic hero story, with Barry Atsma playing the role of the charismatic adventurer Wally, who managed to use his knowledge of financial matters in just the right way. to stay under the radar. Opposite is the more conservative Gijs, who constantly sees bears in the road and actually only participates in the fraud because he wants to protect his younger brother. In flashbacks we see that he has done this before in their youth. Gijs is also the one who tells the story to the viewer; It is not entirely clear why such a construction was chosen. It also betrays a bit how it ends with Wally, which is already a spoiler for all those people who are not familiar with this story.

The central moment in the film is the robbery; It is not clear exactly how the fork is in the stem, but that is often the case with these kind of heist films. The financial world is not the most transparent, so opting for a simplified presentation is a logical choice. Lürsen does succeed in increasing the tension until the big substitution trick of the Van Hall brothers. When high-ranking bank employee Ritter (Jaap Spijkers), who has to exchange the counterfeit securities for the real ones, descends through the building of the Nederlandsche Bank and is thwarted at the very last moment by an overzealous clerk, the tension rises to great heights. That scene makes up for the lack of subtlety that seems to bother the film here and there – Wally being inspired for his acts of resistance by a passing train full of deported Jews. Van de Pol and Van der Ree do allow themselves more freedom – could the imprisoned resistance fighters really have been able to talk to each other through a hole in the wall? – but they are small irregularities in the bigger picture.

Because ‘Banker of the Resistance’ presents itself above all as a rock-solid adventure film, with some exciting highlights, some of the best actors in the Netherlands and a decoration that has been taken care of down to the last detail. En passant, a by many forgotten chapter from the Second World War is also told. The film viewer who goes for pure entertainment is served with this film.