Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1600 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-04-30
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: DVD-Video, PAL
• Original language: Dutch
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 140 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Absent from the directors’ chair for over half a decade, Paul Verhoeven returns to business with the engaging thriller Black Book, and it finds him once again near the top of his game.

Leaving the disappointing Hollow Man firmly in the rear view mirror, and more in keeping with his original Dutch films than his infamous Hollywood output (Basic Instinct, Robocop, Starship Troopers and Showgirls all sit on his CV), Black Book is the story of a refugee by the name of Rachel Stein in the second World War, who embarks on a quest for revenge when her family are killed. Stein joins up with the Resistance, and is giving the mission of using her seductive charms to infiltrate the German Security Service, and the ingredients then fall into place for a labyrinthine thriller of some quality.

Black Book works for several reasons. Firstly, lead actress Carice von Houten is quite excellent, while the tight screenplay is happy to provoke questions and keep the complex plot in check. Verhoeven, too, directs well, occasionally relying a little too much on one or two of his conventions, but nonetheless delivering an engrossing piece of cinema.

For sure, Black Book isn’t perfect, and there are films that treat the material with more gravitas than is on display here. But it’s still a strong, well-made thriller, and one that leaves you hoping its director won’t be away for quite so long next time. --Jon Foster

DVD Description
September 1944 – Nazi Occupied Holland. When her temporary safe house is destroyed by a bomb, the beautiful young Jewish chanteuse Rachel Stein joins fellow refugees in an attempt to reach safe Allied territory by boat. Tragedy strikes when a Nazi patrol intercepts their escape, ruthlessly killing everybody onboard including Rachel’s family; only Rachel escapes the massacre. Embittered and desperate for revenge, she joins the Resistance where, assigned a new identity as the blond Ellis de Vries, she is charged with infiltrating the German Security Service by seducing senior officer Muntze. Without warning she becomes entangled in a deadly web of double-dealing and betrayal

Twenty years in the making, this stunning, sexy thriller from the internationally acclaimed director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Total Recall) is an epic and moving tale of great courage and fierce emotion – played out against the dying explosive months of WWII.

Synopsis
Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven made his name in Hollywood with films such as ROBOCOP, BASIC INSTINCT, and STARSHIP TROOPERS. But Verhoeven got his start in the industry by making films (the acclaimed SPETTERS and SOLDIER OF ORANGE among them) in his native country, and it's to Holland that he returns for BLACK BOOK--his first Dutch film in 20 years. The story is set during the final days of World War II in Holland, and follows a Jewish singer named Rachel Stein (Carice Van Houten). Rachel attempts to avoid the Nazis and remains in quiet hiding until her family is brutally slain, causing her to join up with a resistance movement. On a subsequent undercover mission, Rachel crosses paths with a smitten German general named Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch), with whom Rachel begins a relationship in order to feed vital information back to her colleagues in the resistance. But as the action and bloodshed escalate, Rachel realises that she has genuine feelings for Muntze, and soon she is in enormous danger. Verhoeven's film is wildly ambitious and takes many intriguing twists and turns during its 146 minutes. BLACK BOOK commanded the largest budget of any film to be produced in Holland, and it shows. Explosions litter the screen, plenty of car chases ensue, and wince-inducing injuries and deaths propel the action. The director isn't afraid to criticise his fellow countrymen and inserts a fascinating subtext about the actions of the resistance fighters, asking some uncomfortable questions about the similarities between their behavior and that of the Nazis. Van Houten lights up the screen throughout and is surely destined for bigger things, and while the tumultuous experiences her character undergoes might push the boundaries of reality at times, Verhoeven has pointed out in interviews that Rachel is a composite character who encompasses the merged experiences of many real people from the era.

Customer Reviews

Best film by Verhoeven in decades
Director Paul Verhoeven returns to his native Holland after more than 20 years (his last film there was 1983's The Fourth Man) and the result is a cinematic treat, probably his best film since Robocop. Both outrageous and exhilarating, Black Book tells the story of a Jewish singer (the excellent Carice Van Houten) and her improbable travails in occupied Holland during World War II. After spending a great part of the occupation hidden by some anti-Semitic farmers, her hiding place is bombed by the British towards the end of the war. She decides it's time to reunite with her family and escape with the help of some dubious people to allied-liberated Belgium. But there is an obvious betrayal during the escape and her whole family (along with other refugees) are killed by the Germans (she escapes miraculously by jumping into the water,007-style). After that, she joins the resistance, and a series of improbable situations occurs. When the son of one of the resistance leader is arrested, she is encouraged to seduce the German SS bigwig (whom she had met earlier on a train) so as to install a microphone inside the Nazi headquarters and help the resistance liberate the young man (the idea of a Jew becoming a lover of a high Nazi officer is, of course, extremely offensive to many; the Nazi, by the way, is played by the fine actor who was the playwright in The Lives of Others). Many improbable things happen after wards, with incredible turns of events to the story happening at about every ten minutes, punctuated by deadly shootings between the Nazis and the Dutch resistance. The movie is 2hours and 25 minutes long, probably half an hour too much (it should have ended when Holland is liberated and she receives a less than stellar reception). It's impossible to take the movie very seriously (the movie claims to be based in true events, but this is almost certainly not true), but is extremely entertaining, and it shows Verhoeven at the top of his game.

the black book
this is one great film i don't watch many war films but i watched this one the story was good and it just show you what the greman's really did in the war

Subtle it's not
The customer who noted that a Five Star Daily Mail review was an infallible guide to a crap film is spot-on. In this instance the director's name is also a giveaway. Verhoevan is not known as a master of subtlety and this film is, like most of his work, crude, flashy and sensational. That said, if you don't expect anything more than an utterly unrealistic WWII romp with lashings of inexplicable twists and gratuitous nudity, it certainly passes the time. File it next to 'The Eagle has Landed' and other hokum.