Carice van Houten
Rachel Stein / Ellis de Vries
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In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
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| Release Date | 2006-09-14 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 2h 25m |
| Directors | Karl Walter Lindenlaub, Paul Verhoeven, Cornelia Ott, Astrid Poeschke, Ehud Segev, Marc Felperlaan, Erwin Roodhart, Marc van der Bijl, Michiel Collenteur, Marije Hondelink, Germain Meser, Kenzo Overbeeke, Melina Karpovich, Willem de Beukelaer, Tim Oliehoek, Ido Narkis |
| Producers | Jeroen Beker, Frans van Gestel, Teun Hilte, San Fu Maltha, Jos van der Linden, Jens Meurer, Adrian Politowski, Nadia Khamlichi, Charlie Woebcken, Marcus Schöfer, Andreas Schmid |
| Writers | Paul Verhoeven, Gerard Soeteman |
Carice van Houten plays a spy working for the Dutch Resistance during WW2
During the German occupation of Netherlands in WW2, a Jewess singer turned spy (Carice van Houten) gains access to the Gestapo headquarters to help the Dutch Resistance. Sebastian Koch plays a sympathetic German officer while Waldemar Kobus is on hand as the heavy. Thom Hoffman plays an agent for the Resistance.
“Black Book” (2006), aka “Zwartboek,” is a Euro WW2 film by Paul Verhoeven that balances drama, action, intrigue, romance and suspense. It’s reminiscent of contemporaneous flicks like “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) and “Valkyrie” (2008). It’s not great like the former, but it’s in the same league as the latter.
Despite its length, the story movies along swiftly, albeit awkwardly on a couple occasions. Carice shines in the challenging key role and Koch is likable. There was one scene that I didn’t find convincing, but it was forgivable. Unfortunately there’s a twist in the last act involving a character that doesn’t gel with the character’s previous actions.
The film runs 2 hours, 25 minutes, and was shot in the Netherlands with the bookend scenes filmed in Israel and studio work done in Brandenburg, Germany.
GRADE: B-
— Wuchak