"The girl with the red hair" tells the story of the Dutch resistance fighter Hannie Schaft (1920 - 1945). Together with "Sophie Scholl, the final days" (2005, Marc Rothemund) "The girl with the red hair" forms an interesting combination. In both films a young girl goes into resistance against the Nazi regime and in both films she pays with her life.
There are however also differences between the two films. Sophie Scholl remained nonviolent while Hannie Schaft hardened during her career in the resistance movement and ultimately performed liquidations. "The girl with the red hair" is mainly about the character development of Hannie in the resistance movement.
In the beginning of the film Hannie gives up her law school in order to serve justice in a more practical (and violent) way. This reminded me of "A short film about killing" (1988, Krzysztof Kieslowski). In this film from the Dekalog series a law student is portrayed both during his final exam and his first case.
In practical life al sorts of ethical issues arise. Focused on working in a resistance movement during the Second World War one can think of the following.
How to take into account possible reprisals the German occupier would undertake? This issue is at the heart of "The assault" (1986, Fons Rademakers). This film centers around a liquidation not performed by Hannie Schaft, but it is presented in a way very much like a liquidation Hannie Schaft did perform.
How to eliminate personal motives in selecting actions and targets? This issue appears in "The girl with the red hair" after the death of the fiance of Hannie.
It is also interesting to compare "The girl with the red hair" with "Soldier of Orange" (1977, Paul Verhoeven). In this comparison the ethical issues are not so much ones that the resistance fighter has to take into accoount regarding the society but much more the other way round. "Soldier of Orange" is the story of Erik Hazelhof Roelfzema, also a resistance fighter, but one of a more glamerous kind than Hannie Schaft. Roelfzema had also connections with the royal family. Right after the war Roelfzema was very popular, but his popularity diminished when it was revealed in 2015 that he was involved in planning a coup in 1947 to prevent the independence of Indonesia.
Hannie Schaft on the other hand was not very popular after the war because of her Communist background. After the end of the Cold War her popularity is once again on the rise.
Hannie Schaft is played by Renée Soutendijk, an actress that was at the top of her game in those years. She played both in arthouse movies such as "The girl with the red hair" as in more commercial films such as for example "Spetters" (1980, Paul Verhoeven). She could also play very different characters. In "The girl with the red hair" she plays an idealistic girl from the higher classes, in "Spetters" on the other hand she plays a very opportunistic girl from lower descent.
"The girl with the red hair" is a rather slow movie, and so is the music. I imagined hearing music similar to that from films of the brothers Taviani. I was right. Nicola Piovani wrote the music, as he did for "Fiorile" (1993, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani).
The cinematography is very beautiful, somewhere in between color and black and white. A bid like the cinematography in "Sleepy hollow" (1999, Tim Burton). Of course the red hair is in color and really sets the images on fire.
