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Black Book (2006)
My impression of Paul Verhoeven's 'Black Book' was that it got very mixed reviews when it came out but now I read that in the Netherlands it was also voted the greatest Dutch film ever made. It is a terrific WWII spy thriller, that at first appears to be following familiar patterns but becomes increasingly interesting and surprising. You might think you know who the bad guys are and who are the good guys, what is right and what is wrong but there is a whole lot of grey. Some of the occupying Germans aren't evil, just because somebody is "collaborating" doesn't mean they won't step up when it counts, some of the Dutch resistance aren't noble heroes and our Jewish heroine, Dutch resistance agent Rachel Stein, encounters anti-Semitism and barbarism from both groups. Star Carice van Houten is fantastic in a no holds bared performance. What might put some people off is the tone. You've got a cerebral investigation of morality in war time and grim depictions of the Holocaust, in the same movie as oodles of full-frontal sexualised nudity (including a pubic hair dying scene), action-packed Hollywood gun battles and Tarantino-type splatter gore. It's Paul Verhoeven after all and the tone didn't put me off but I did notice it.
My impression of Paul Verhoeven's 'Black Book' was that it got very mixed reviews when it came out but now I read that in the Netherlands it was also voted the greatest Dutch film ever made. It is a terrific WWII spy thriller, that at first appears to be following familiar patterns but becomes increasingly interesting and surprising. You might think you know who the bad guys are and who are the good guys, what is right and what is wrong but there is a whole lot of grey. Some of the occupying Germans aren't evil, just because somebody is "collaborating" doesn't mean they won't step up when it counts, some of the Dutch resistance aren't noble heroes and our Jewish heroine, Dutch resistance agent Rachel Stein, encounters anti-Semitism and barbarism from both groups. Star Carice van Houten is fantastic in a no holds bared performance. What might put some people off is the tone. You've got a cerebral investigation of morality in war time and grim depictions of the Holocaust, in the same movie as oodles of full-frontal sexualised nudity (including a pubic hair dying scene), action-packed Hollywood gun battles and Tarantino-type splatter gore. It's Paul Verhoeven after all and the tone didn't put me off but I did notice it.