12/26/2023 0 Comments Black book 2006![]() ![]() Each of these members is guided primarily by selfish motives, adhering to the principle that “charity begins at home”. The” Black Book” reflects the internal squabbles of the Dutch resistance, not all of whose members treat the Jews well. She changes her name to a less Jewish sounding Ellis de Vries and joins one of the Dutch resistance units, on whose orders she has an affair with SS-Hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch), thereby putting herself at risk on both sides: either the Nazis will expose her association with the underground or the underground will accuse her of being a traitor. However, they are betrayed and all are killed apart from Rachel. Through the aid of a lawyer called Smaal (Dolf de Vries) she joins a group of fellow Jewish refugees who are trying to travel south to the liberated part of the country. The film starts in September 1944 and Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten) is the German Jewish heroine in occupied Netherlands, whose house where she is hiding is destroyed by an Allied bomber. Paul Verhoeven worked on the script for more than 20 years while he comprehensively studied the history of the Dutch resistance which was riven by divisions and not a simple matter of the good guys against the baddies. Starring: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch It’s also a pretty kick-ass war movie.‘Black Book’ (2006, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom) Grief is a luxury Ellis can’t afford.īlack Book is well worth studying for how a writer can take a stock character and use those preconceptions to strengthen tension and add unexpected plot-twists. The Dutch may hide their Jews, but a lot of them don’t like them, and she has to use the only thing she has left–her beauty and brains–to survive. Her character has to make compromises at every turn to the point that her body itself becomes a contested field where war rages. Her lipstick or hair are never mussed even after a night of wild sex or running guns for the Resistance, but despite these cornball situations, we root for her because of her plucky resourcefulness. Van Houten can do both vulnerable and steely at the same time. Say what you will about Verhoeven’s preoccupation with female nudity and exploding bodies, but he gives his female leads plenty of strength and range. Van Houten as Ellis de Vries carries the film. Nazis are capable of compassion Resistance leaders of bigotry and senseless acts of violence. In Black Book, everyone is drawn in shades of gray. The viewer never really knows what each character is capable of: unbelievable bravery or unbelievable cruelty. But what elevates the film is that Verhoeven and his screenplay partner Gerard Soeteman takes these conventions and uses them to inject tension into the story. Hans Akkerman ( Thom Hoffman), daredevil leader of the Dutch Resistance who uses violence as a first result, not last and conflicted Nazi SS officer Ludwig Muntze ( Sebastian Koch, an actor who specializes in complicated characters and was really good in The Lives of Others). ![]() ![]() Meanwhile, both sides become increasingly brutal as the end of the war approaches, and the bodies pile up.īlack Book is certainly an old-fashioned war epic peppered with stock genre characters: plucky cabaret singer Rachel Stein, who changes her Jewish name to Ellis de Vries ( Carice Van Houten, terrific in a punishing role) and does what it takes to survive Dr. Unfortunately for Ellis, she’s fallen in love with her German officer, who not only figures out she’s a Jew, but who risks his life for her. She’s rescued by the Dutch Resistance, who recruit the plucky and beautiful Rachel–now Ellis–to seduce a Nazi SS officer and gain information that would free a group of captured Resistance fighters. The story follows familiar terrain: Rachel Stein, a Jew, sees her family mowed down by Nazis while trying to flee German-occupied Holland. OK, strong female lead, Nazis, unusual location–worth the $3 rental and a few hours.Ī gripping two hours it was. But I was intrigued by the logline: Rachel Stein, a Dutch Jew, tries to survive in Nazi-occupied Holland. I wasn’t put off by the fact that it was a Dutch film so much as it was a Paul Verhoeven movie, he of wretched Showgirls infamy. I’m a sucker for good war movies, and Black Book leaped off the shelf at me. Paul Verhoeven’s Zwartboek, or Black Book, is anything but. Usually the attempts are clumsy and self-indulgent. Occasionally, a genre film comes along which stays firmly rooted in the conventions of the genre while messing with the viewers preconceptions and expectations. ![]()
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