Het Bombardement

Plot

The film is set in May 1940 in and around the city of Rotterdam, where the young bakers assistant (and aspiring amateur boxer) Vincent de Graaf meets the wealthy Eva von Heerle, the daughter of German refugees who've fled Nazi Germany. Eva is engaged to Dirk Lagerwaard, a wealthy older industrial whom she does not love, whereas Vincent wants to emigrate to the United States to find a cure for his sick brother. The two fall in love. As German troops invade the Netherlands, Vincent offers Dirk to bring Eva and her parents to Rotterdam resulting in a dangerous journey through the frontlines as Dutch and German troops clash in bitter combat. As the two reach Rotterdam, an ultimatum is delivered to the Dutch troops defending the city in which they are summoned to surrender immediately or face destruction, the Dutch soldiers refused, but Rottrdam was declared an open city. Unfortunately the German bombers were supposed to have been recalled resulting in the near destruction of the open city. Very traumatic - changing the future for everyone involved. My sources were eye witnesses to the event resulting in the death of members of my family who lived in Rotterdam. My Dutch immigrant father explained this horrific act when I was a boy of 9 after reading about it at the local library in Philadelphia. I talked with some of the remaining members following the war which prompted my pursuit of what had happened.- Robert de Jong, Vineland, NJ.

Reception

The film received negative reviews. Several critics attacked the films plot, which was said to be a bad imitation of the story line of Titanic (1997). Both concerned an impossible love between a lower class boy and an upper class girl already engaged to wealthy but unloving older man culminating in a dramatic disaster. Others considered many of the characters to be stereotypes and criticized the film for its corny dialogues, bad acting and predictability, the De Telegraaf finding the romance plot to be as predictable as the bombing itself. The film also provoked public outcry from several survivors of the Rotterdam bombing, who were offended that the bombing was used as a mere plot element for a simplistic romance film. The Algemeen Dagblad called the film poorly made and offensive to the victims of the bombing with a Belgian critic going on to say that watching the film was the worst experience in his life.