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Black Book

1213 votes

In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.

Status: Released

Released Date: 2006-09-14

Runtime: 145 mins

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Spoken language: Nederlands, Deutsch, English, עִבְרִית

Genres: Drama, Thriller, War

Original title: Black Book

Production Companies: Fu Works, AVRO, VIP Medienfonds 4, Egoli Tossell Pictures, Clockwork Pictures, Studio Babelsberg, Motion Investment Group, Motel Films, Hector BV, ContentFilm International

Production Countries: Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom

Cast

Rachel Stein / Ellis de Vries

Carice van Houten

Sebastian Koch

Thom Hoffman

Halina Reijn

Waldemar Kobus

Matthias Schoenaerts

Prison Guard with Baret

Theo Maassen

Derek de Lint

Christian Berkel

Dolf de Vries

Peter Blok

Michiel Huisman

Ronald Armbrust

Frank Lammers

Reviews

Wuchak

_**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-

2020-08-09

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