The Battle of the Scheldt (2020)

Directed by: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. | 124 minutes | drama, war | Actors: Gijs Blom, Susan Radder, Jamie Flatters, Tom Felton, Jan Bijvoet, Coen Bril, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Scott Reid, Marthe Schneider, Ronald Kalter, Hajo Bruins, Justus von Dohnányi, Joep Paddenburg, Mark van Eeuwen, Vincent van den Berg, Sytse Faber, Rutger de Bekker, Bianca Krijgsman, Owen Kaat, Koen De Sutter, Ariane Van Vliet, Lewis Conway, Pit Bukowski, Rogier Schippers, Robert Naylor

Many people know that the Battle of Nieuwpoort took place in 1600. And that Napoleon found his proverbial Waterloo in 1815 in the Belgian town of the same name is also generally known. The most famous battle in territory that still belongs to the Netherlands is undoubtedly the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. Two years after the events there was already a first film adaptation (‘Theirs Is the Glory’, 1946), but the real international fame came. thirty years later with ‘A Bridge Too Far’ (1977), the war drama with an impressive cast by director Richard Attenborough, based on the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan. Documentaries and even games about this battle were also published. Because of that fame, many people think that the Battle of Arnhem was the largest military operation on Dutch soil during World War II, but that is not the case. The Battle of the Scheldt, which took place from October 2 to November 8, 1944, was even bigger and crucial for the Allies to have any chance of success. Retaking the Western Scheldt from the Nazis meant access to the strategically very important Antwerp ports, from where the Allied armies could be supplied with supplies and the operation at the front in Western Europe could be continued.

An important piece of European history that few people know. There were also thousands of casualties. Not only German and allied soldiers, who died during the battles on Walcheren, but also many Zeeland citizens who did not survive the bombardments from the air. ‘A black page in the war history of the Netherlands’, is also the opinion of filmmaker Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. Together with screenwriter Paula van der Oest and producer Alain de Levita, he was approached by the National Fund for Peace, Freedom and Veteran Care, with a view to 75 years of liberation to make a film about the Second World War. The request was to appeal to young people in particular with the film, so that the younger generations also understand the importance of commemorating and remembering and continue to cherish their freedom. Thanks in part to this ‘mission’, Van Heijningen had a budget of fourteen million euros for ‘The Battle of the Scheldt’ (2020); the only Dutch production with a larger budget was Paul Verhoeven’s ‘Zwartboek’ (2006). The intention was to close the commemorative year 2020, 75 years after the liberation, with the premiere of ‘The Battle of the Scheldt’, but the corona pandemic threw a spanner in the works. Fortunately, Van Heijningen could have shot the last scenes just before the country was locked, but unfortunately the dreamed big release in December fell through. A premiere on the eve of the second lockdown in Vlissingen, of course with a limited audience; there was nothing more to it so far. Although the film was bought by Netflix, where ‘The Battle of the Scheldt’ will later be shown anyway (under the name ‘The Forgotten Battle’).

Whether you’re watching this movie in the cinema or on the small screen, you should definitely watch it. Because ‘The Battle of the Scheldt’ is not only beautifully made, but also captivates from the first to the last minute. We follow three young people who, each in their own way, become involved in the war at the end of 1944. The war that is on its hind legs, but the Nazis are not going to give in easily. The young Briton William Sinclair (Jamie Flatters) gets into one of the glider planes that are heading for Arnhem, against the wishes of his father – a major in the RAF. But they will not reach Arnhem, because when they fly over Zeeland, the glider of pilot Tony Turner (Tom Felton from the Harry Potter series) is shot out of the sky. They will have to continue on the ground and that is not easy with wounded comrades in arms in a half-flooded Zeeland, unknown to them, where the enemy lurks in deserted villages. Marinus van Staveren (Gijs Blom) is a young Dutch soldier who fights on the side of the Germans. After he was injured on the eastern front, he was sent to Zeeland to assist the Nazi leadership in the office there. But he has a conscience. Finally, there is Teuntje Visser (Susan Radder), a young girl from Zeeland who works at the office of the mayor of Vlissingen and tries to keep herself as low as possible. She succeeds in doing so, but when her younger brother is arrested by the Nazis during Mad Tuesday after an attack on a German convoy, she can no longer keep aloof. In a desperate attempt to save her brother, she joins the resistance.

These three young people, who do not know each other but who each end up in the war in their own way, come into contact with each other subtly and only very briefly. Each in their own way brave and resolute, all three pursue the same goal: freedom. Van Heijningen mirrors his film to the British films ‘Dunkirk’ (2017) and ‘1917’ (2019) rather than to ‘Zwartboek’, which means that there is no room for romantic subplots and that realism reigns supreme. So don’t be surprised if important characters die. The construction of the film is daring, but it turns out great, precisely because the moments when the three storylines meet are deliberately kept sparing. Moreover, this approach gives the viewer multiple perspectives, which contributes to a broader picture of what life must have been like for young people like Teuntje, William and Marinus. The latter in particular is a fascinating figure; why did he choose to fight on the side of the nazis? The English, the Germans, the Dutch (with a Zeeland accent!); everyone speaks their own language in this film, which adds to the authenticity. But it is mainly the visual spectacle that makes this film so convincing. That large budget is definitely reflected in the spectacular and intense battles and dogfights. Perhaps even more exciting are the ominous confrontations in those apparently deserted flooded villages in Zeeland, where the unrest increases by the minute and the viewer ends up on the edge of your seat.

Van Heijningen, Van der Oest, De Levita and their cast and crew aimed to keep the horrors of the Second World War alive for younger generations. With the impressive ‘The Battle of the Scheldt’ they succeeded with flying colours. Thanks to the generous budget by Dutch standards, they have been able to make a realistic war film that impresses both in the small and intimate moments and in the grand spectacle scenes. A film that also shows and experiences how ruthless the Second World War was and that you are lucky if you survived it. No romanticized veneration of heroes and armed forces, but the bitter, raw reality. ‘The Battle of the Scheldt’ could just become compulsory reading in Dutch secondary schools!