The Resistance Banker


The Resistance Banker is a 2018 Dutch World-War-II-period drama film directed by Joram Lürsen. The film is based on the life of banker Walraven van Hall, who financed the Dutch resistance during the Second World War. The film is reported to have become the most watched Dutch film of 2018 and was nominated for eleven Golden Calves, the first time a film received so many nominations for the award. It won four Golden Calves, among them the prize for Best Film and Best Actor. The film was also selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Plot

The Resistance Banker is based on the true story of the Dutch banker Walraven van Hall, a man who, witnessing the Holocaust together with the Nazi occupation of his homeland, decides to finance the Dutch resistance with the creation of a shadow bank. Walraven van Hall uses the guise of a charitable fund to help Dutch sailors stranded abroad by the war to launder money into his shadow bank. As the war continues, the needs of the resistance increase. Nazi leaders grow closer to catching van Hall. Van Hall decides to forge war bonds, secretly exchange them for the real bonds at a major bank, and then redeem them for cash at this same bank.

Cast

The Resistance Banker grossed $4 million in Netherlands.