10s Movie Review - Süskind

Director: Rudolf van den Berg
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Jeroen Spitzenberger, Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Karl Markovics, Katja Herbers, Tygo Gernandt, Olga Zuiderhoek, Chava voor in ’t Holt, Nasrin Dchar, Henk Poort

Description: During WWII, a member of the Jewish council of Amsterdam (Jeroen Spitzenberger) finds a way to spare children from deportation to death camps.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 1: A MOVIE FILMED IN YOUR COUNTRY

Review: Walter Süskind never became a real war hero. On the contrary, because of his, at first sight, good relationship with th German army officers during the Second World War, many saw the Jew Süskind as a traitor, a defector. Nevertheless, many Jews today ow their loves to his heroic deeds during WWII. And although Walter Süskind is already well known as a Jewish resistance hero, his deed are shown to a larger audience with the film “Süskind”.
The story is set in Amsterdam during the German occupation. To prevent himself and his family from being transported to Germany, Walter joins the Jewish Council. This ensured that the deportation process of the Jews went smoothly and Walter became mainly responsible for this. Soon Walter came into contact with Felic Halverstad and Piet Meerburg and together they came up with a plan to falsify the lists and thus save small children from transportation. A life-threatening plan, for which he puts both his own life and that of his family at risk. By becoming friends with the German general Ferdinand Aus der Fünten, he tries to hide his risky double life.
After earlier smaller roles, Jeroen Spitzenberger now plays his first leading role in a large film and he knows how to portray this character in a strong, credible way. Especially the convincing wa in which he succeeds in capturing the lonely Ferdinand Aus der Fünten and responding to his feelings is done very strongly.
For the other big roles Nyncke Beekhuzen has been chosen, as Hanna Süskind, Walter’s wife. And we see Katja Herbers, who can be seen as Fanny Philips, who has an important tole in the smuggling of the children.
What immediately strikes one when seeing “Süskind”, is the tremendously well-affected atmosphere. The sad atmosphere is of course logical given the setting in which the story takes place, but it is especially the enormous oppression and discomfort that you will notice. The film grabs you from the first second and during the film this only becomes more and more. The perfectly captured atmosphere is the biggest asset of this film.
 
With Süskind”, director Rudolf van den Berg delivers a very strong film. A conscious choise ws made to tell a compelling story rather than give a history lesson and the film succeeded in this. The basis of the story is historically correct and that is very important. The film emphatically addresses the role of the Jewish council and the ease with which the Dutch Jews were deported. For example, “Süskind” is still a bit of a history lesson, but a very interesting one. The Dutch answer to “Schindler’s List”.

Rating: 4/ 5