The Assault () is a 1986 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Harry Mulisch. The film was directed and produced by Fons Rademakers. The main character is played by both Derek de Lint (in the present) and Marc van Uchelen (as a youth), whereas Monique 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).
Plot
In January 1945, as the Second World War in Europe is reaching its end, much of the Netherlands remains under Nazi 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.
Cast
Derek de Lint as Anton Steenwijk
Marc van Uchelen as Young Anton Steenwijk
Monique van de Ven as Saskia de Graaff / Truus Coster
John Kraaijkamp as Cor Takes
Huub van der Lubbe as Fake Ploeg
Elly Weller as Mrs. Beumer
Ina van der Molen as Karin Korteweg
Frans Vorstman as Father Steenwijk
Edda Barrends as Mother Steenwijk
Casper de Boer as Peter Steenwijk
Wim de Haas as Mr. Korteweg
Hiske van der Linden as Young Karin Korteweg
Piet de Winj as Mr. Beumer
Akkemay Marijnissen as Sandra
Kees Coolen as Gerrit-Jan
Awards
The film won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Space Needle of the Seattle International Film Festival.