Filmmaker Paul Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands after more than twenty years of success in Hollywood to direct this epic-scale war drama based on a true story. Rachel Steinn (Carice van Houten) is a beautiful Jewish woman living in German-occupied Holland during late 1944. Her family members - who have been falsely promised safe passage to Belgium (their names recorded in the 'black book' of the title) are instead robbed and slaughtered by the Germans on a premeditated basis; Rachel herself
manages to escape by diving into the water and swimming away. She narrowly avoids capture, then joins the local resistance movement. With her hair dyed blonde, Rachel can easily pass for Aryan, and when the leader of the Dutch resistance movement learns his son has been captured by Axis forces, Rachel is asked to use her feminine charms to persuade a German commander to arrange for the boy's release. Rachel soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous double life as she becomes a sexual plaything for the Nazis while attempting to bring down their evil empire as a spy. Zwartboek was written by Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman, who collaborated on the 1977 international success Soldier of Orange. Zwartboek received its world premier at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Verhoeven never loses sight of the larger message -- that in those evil times, ordinary people were forced to do extraordinary, and even awful, things just to live long enough to tell their tale.
Paul Verhoeven's WWII drama stars the lovely Dutch actress Carice van Houten as a Jewish Resistance worker, and costars her breasts. All three deserve awards consideration.
The happy ending demands that [Verhoeven's] return-journey film -- Black Book -- be a rousing artistic triumph. It isn't. Too many of his lazy Hollywood habits have followed him home.
Insanely entertaining -- and often just plain insane -- World War II melodrama. You may hate yourself in the morning, but you'll have to admit Verhoeven gives you a lot of bang for your buck.
The handsomely mounted, heedlessly pulpy modernist World War II thriller that "The Good German" and "Valkyrie" failed to be - a dizzying rush of daring rescues, sexual intrigue, treachery, betrayal, gunfights, hasty conclusions and harrowing consequences.
While gleefully turning all prior war movie stereotypes on their heads, Verhoeven opts for the bizarre theory that ravishing designing women and lots of sex can change the course of world history.
Verhoeven simplesmente mantém sua obsessão habitual com sexo e violência (geralmente combinando os dois), mas sem qualquer sofisticação narrativa ou visual.
(...) A uno le parece estar viendo más un detrás de cámaras que una película en serio, esperando que el director grite "corten" en cualquier momento y que el equipo aplauda por lo bien que salió la toma.
Verhoeven's potent mixture of provocative melodrama and spy movie theatrics set against a carefully researched historical backdrop makes for a heady cinematic experience
I feel like it could have ended about 50 times. While it's sexy and dangerous and all that fun stuff, it did feel a trifle self-indulgent. I think that's how a lot of biopics turn out.
the story was flawless and well executed, the cinematography was solid, and the actors were great. a solid tale of the french resistence to nazi rule, i was gripped the entire way through. you see the characters evolve and develop so well that i cared about each of them. the smut was a little much for my tastes, but
overall a wonderful movie.
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