"The gang of Oss" is a Dutch gangstermovie, a very rare genre. It is based, for the greatest part, on the real gang of Oss. Lead character Johanna van Heesch (Sylvia Hoeks) is based on Janske van Uden.
Johanna resembles Marie in Chabrols "Une affaire de femmes" (1988). She has to survive in a tough environment and wants to start a new and cleaner live. In order to realise this all means (including some violent ones) are justified and she don't hesitate to manipulate two men who she knows are in love with her.
Sylvia Hoeks convinces as the bar owner who's husband is in jail and who serves hier clients not only liquor but also paid love. In the first half of the movie (too) much emphasis is laid on the last mentioned extra income. One can see this as sensationalism. On the other hand it explains the reason why some men are so fond of her that they are susceptible for the manipulation that plays an important role in the second half of the movie.
Fortunately the film stays away from false Robin Hood like romanticism. There is no social goal behind the crimes of the gang, but only self-enrichment. You can also taste a touch of cynicism when the investigation against the gang is put on hold when too many dignitaries appear to have ties with the gang.
The city of Oss is in the South of the Netherlands. This part of the country is mainly Roman Catholic. The North of the Netherlands is largely Protestant. The locals treated the military police from the North, investigating the gang of Oss, as some sort of occupying force and remained silent. It resembles a sort of "omerta". If the source of this "omerta" is fear for retallation, I can understand. If the source is hositilty towards the Protestants from the North (as the movie suggests), I find it hard to believe. After all the members, and especially the more senior members, of the gang had (as remarked earlier) no social purposes in mind and didn't hesitate to sacrifice some of the locals if this was in their interest.
