War · Drama · Thriller
Dutch (De Aanslag)
1986 · Directed by Fons Rademakers · 144 min
Haarlem, the last winter of the German occupation. A twelve-year-old boy lives with his family in a quiet street until one night's violence outside their door changes everything. The film follows what that night means to him, with a calm, serious tone and little spectacle.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining film of 1980s European art cinema about wartime memory, and a key work in the Dutch effort to look critically at the occupation rather than celebrate it.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a study of how a person's understanding of an event is built, and limited, by what he is allowed to see.
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