| The Assault | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Fons Rademakers |
| Screenplay by | Gerard Soeteman |
| Based on | The Assault byHarry Mulisch |
| Produced by | Fons Rademakers |
| Starring | Derek de Lint Marc van Uchelen Monique van de Ven |
| Cinematography | Theo van de Sande |
| Edited by | Kees Linthorst |
| Music by | Jurriaan Andriessen |
Production company | Fons Rademakers Produktie |
| Distributed by | Cannon City Film Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 144 minutes |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Languages | Dutch English German |
The Assault (Dutch:De aanslag) is a 1986 film adaptation of thenovel of the same name byHarry Mulisch. The film was directed and produced byFons Rademakers. The main character is played by bothDerek de Lint (in the present) and Marc van Uchelen (as a youth), whereasMonique van de Ven plays two different roles, one after the war (his first wife) and one in the war (a woman who participated in the assault and whom he meets later the same night in a dark police cell).
In January 1945, as theSecond World War in Europe is reaching its end, much of the Netherlands remains underNazi occupation. One night, a Nazi collaborator is shot dead on his bicycle. The family whose house he falls down in front of moves the body in front of the neighboring house, where the Steenwijk family lives. The Nazis, assuming that the Steenwijks killed the collaborator, execute the parents and older brother together with a large number of hostages. Burning the Steenwijks’ house to the ground, they imprison the younger brother, Anton. The other person in his unlit cell is an older woman. Anton can see only her mouth. She spends the next few minutes comforting him until he is removed from the cell.
After the Netherlands are liberated from Nazi occupation, Anton remains shaken by what has happened. The story moves between the end of World War II and the 1980s, following Steenwijk's often reluctant quest for the truth about the events of that traumatic night.
The film won the 1986Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,[1] theGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Space Needle of theSeattle International Film Festival.