Welcome to Rosie the Reviewer, a Dutch-Canadian female-led WW2 media podcast. A new episode airs every Friday!
Find everything about a specific topic.
This week on Rosie the Reviewer, we’re heading to the beaches of postwar Denmark with Land of Mine (2015), a Danish film about a young German POW crew tasked with clearing a mine-affected beach and the Danish sergeant who oversees the process. It’s tense, visually striking, and explores trauma, anger, humanity and innocence. A movie about what comes after.
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss Taking Sides (2001), a postwar drama built around a single, unresolved question: can you separate the art from the artist?
Set during the Allied denazification of Germany, the film centres on the interrogation of celebrated conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who insists that his art existed above politics. His American interrogator argues the opposite: that cultural figures who remained visible under the Nazi regime cannot claim neutrality.
Our conversation focuses on complicity and whether art is “apolitical” under fascism, as we try to determine whether the film truly challenges its subject.
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we talk about Godzilla Minus One (2023), written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. We can hear you thinking… What? Set in the immediate aftermath of WWII, the film follows a former kamikaze pilot grappling with survivor’s guilt, PTSD, and the struggle to rebuild a life in a shattered Japan – while Godzilla looms as both a literal threat and a powerful metaphor.
We discuss why this film works even if you think you don’t like monster movies (cough Maartje cough), how it uses Godzilla to explore nuclear trauma and post-war grief, and why the human story at its centre is surprisingly moving. We’re joined by our friend Julie, resident Godzilla enthusiast, because this movie deserves her commentary.
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take a look at Nuremberg (2025), written and directed by James Vanderbilt and based on The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai. We talk about the performances by Russell Crowe and Rami Malek, what we thought of the film, and, of course, provide you with some real history, including a broader historical context around the Nuremberg Trials.