In the pre-liberation Amsterdam of 1944, parents are sending their children off to the country to live with relatives, hoping that the farms are safer. Young Jeroen is placed in the care of one such family, ably headed by God-fearing patriarch Hait. Before long, the area is liberated by a group of Canadian soldiers who then take up a brief residence in the local hotel before pulling out. One young soldier, the handsome, melancholy Walt, develops a close relationship with Jeroen, teaching him to dance and palling around with him at every opportunity. Sensing a kinship in the boy, Walt begins what can only be called a tentative flirtation, which eventually ends with the boy's initiation into his first sexual encounter. The soldier has to eventually leave to go back home. The entire youth of Jeroen is shaped by this experience. The grown-up Jeroen affectionately recalls the story and is now trying to express it as a ballet dance.
It will be interesting debate whether the child Jeroen was exploited or not. I feel he wasn't. They both seemed to be genuinely in love and at no point was anything forced on anyone. They two genuinely felt in love. Doesn't make it right though, because we always ask ourselves, how well does a 12 year old really know! Thankfully it is all handled with sensitivity and maturity. The closeness of the young and older boy is that of anyone who has seriously been in love: passionate and full of amicability. The fact that neither of them understand each other's language, yet the relationship slowly starts blossoming. The film starts slow, with Jeroen and other kids getting familiar with countryside living. Eventually with the arrival of soldiers after WW2 end, things pick up and a warm relationship slowly starts to build up. It is quite scandalous for the time of 1944 but I think the format somehow worked.
If you can keep an open mind and heart, the film may succeed in moving you. It is controversial but hey, its a true story and something that has been very well told. (6.5/10)
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