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Black Book (Zwartboek, 2006)

post #1 of 22
1/24/09 at 10:30pm
Thread Starter 
Since the other thread I started today likely won't get any attention, might as well start this one.... I saw it today and loved it to death. Loved the way Verhoeven mixed staples of his own work with staples of the WWII thriller genre, and ended up with one of the best movies of the type.

Carice van Houten was so good in this movie, it's a shame she doesn't get bigger roles over in America. I didn't really notice her in her role in Valkyrie, and apparently her scenes were cut out completely from this past summer's Body of Lies as well. Christian Berkel was good yet again (I recently saw him in Flammen & Citronen as well) as General Käutner. A lot of actors deserve mention, but it really is all about van Houten. Loved the chemistry between her and Sebastian Koch who I believe is now her real life husband/boyfriend, not sure exactly, but the way they interacted was very genuine.

It's Verhoeven , so naturally there's going to be blood and sex, but I was actually really impressed with the look of the whole film, from the Nazi jails, to the streets of WW2 Holland, to even the Nazi social events that were often photographed. Every cinematic "device", if you will, that was used to move along the story didn't seem forced or contrived, and I was surprised at how fast a 140 minute movie went by. Definitely going to be buying this one, and now I've just got to have a closer look at Verhoeven 's earlier Dutch films.
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post #2 of 22
1/24/09 at 10:42pm
I second your hearty recommendation; yes, there is sex and blood, but it's not over-the-top in the least (well, maybe one sex scene was a bit gratuitous).
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post #3 of 22
1/25/09 at 2:16am
Just because of the subject matter, this flick is very traumatic inherently and Van Houten was that one spark of absolute beauty amongst all the ugliness (or shit even... literally).
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post #4 of 22
1/25/09 at 2:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarkovsky View Post
and now I've just got to have a closer look at Verhoeven 's earlier Dutch films.
Start a thread if you do. I started one a few years back and no one chimed in. I haven't seen any of them either and I'm mighty curious.
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post #5 of 22
1/25/09 at 4:14am
I like The Fourth Man and Spetters quite a bit. There's still a few of his Dutch ones that I need to see.
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post #6 of 22
1/25/09 at 6:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post
Just because of the subject matter, this flick is very traumatic inherently and Van Houten was that one spark of absolute beauty amongst all the ugliness (or shit even... literally).
If there was one thing about the film that put me off when I first saw it, it's that scene. It's a very Verhoeven moment I suppose, the poop shower, but it's just so literal it took me right of the film. Not complaining though, loved the movie; the rejuvenation of Verhoeven isn't the story you see on screen, but it's no less satisfying.

By the by, The Fourth Man might actually be my favorite Paul Verhoeven film.
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post #7 of 22
1/25/09 at 7:16am
As good as van Houten is here, Koch was the real discovery for me and he lead me to The Lives of Others, which was absolutely brilliant as was he.

Black Book's a fine film indeed. An interesting take on not just the WWII thriller, but the Holocaust as well.
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post #8 of 22
1/25/09 at 8:06am
Its not one of his Dutch films, but Flesh + Blood is worth a look. Similar to Black Book in that it's Verhoeven's wild take on a familiar genre. In the case of that film, its a swashbuckler, so naturally there is some gang rape.
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post #9 of 22
1/25/09 at 8:25am
I want to hug Carice's accent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GV-_DQ9nYw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zn2pYS5aTQ
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post #10 of 22
1/25/09 at 7:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post
Just because of the subject matter, this flick is very traumatic inherently and Van Houten was that one spark of absolute beauty amongst all the ugliness (or shit even... literally).
In the bonus features, one of the extras who portrayed a Nazi girlfriend, was talking about how she was getting her head shaved for the scene and was kinda of joking around about it...they had a clip of her afterwards and she was a wreck; the filming really devastated her, as she really locked into what those women must have been feeling at the time.

I'd think she wasn't alone on the set as far as that happening.
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post #11 of 22
1/29/09 at 7:11pm
Yep Paul Verhoeven Pre-Hollywood career had some interesting gems like The Fourth man, Spetters, Turkish Delight and who can forget Soldier of Orange.
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post #12 of 22
1/29/09 at 7:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarkovsky View Post
Since the other thread I started today likely won't get any attention, might as well start this one....
You regularly post threads about good and interesting movies, which is great. Why ruin them with this whiny shit?
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post #13 of 22
1/31/09 at 2:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ Fischer View Post
You regularly post threads about good and interesting movies, which is great. Why ruin them with this whiny shit?
I think he was just trying to find a way to get YOU to reply.

Mission accomplished.
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post #14 of 22
2/12/09 at 3:01am
Nice to see some love for Black Book again. It didn't seem to get Paul Verhoeven's career much of a lift. That is a shame since Black Book really delivered on it's premise. I still have some vivid memories of my first Verheven film--The Fourth Man. Sex and violence when I was 25 years younger....
Kind of a shock to my system. Paul helped get me over my shyness.
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post #15 of 22
9/15/09 at 9:46am
I actually found this quite long but it was still entertaining, Carice Van Houten is absolutely stunning, kind of a dutch Cate Blanchett but she carries this film like a champ, she goes through a hell of alot in this. Although this is mainly Van Houten's show, Sebastian Koch at least matches her in terms of performance, his portrayal of a man who really doesn't care about the nazi's and who just wants to avoid bloodshed between the resistance and the germans is quite nicely done.

I really didn't need to see Francken naked but I guess Verhoeven is an equal opportunist when it comes to nudity.
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post #16 of 22
9/15/09 at 6:24pm
I actually decided to come back to this movie after checking out Inglorious Basterds the other evening; they make surprisingly good companion pieces despite the very obvious aesthetic differences between the directors, and the rift between their inspirations and sensibilities. (Basterds being far more pulpy, Black Book being a piece of historical fiction.)
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post #17 of 22
10/4/09 at 3:50am
This makes me want to check out The Fourth Man again. Wonder what my reaction would be to it now?
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post #18 of 22
10/4/09 at 6:20am
Has anyone seen Female Agents? Very much in the same sort of vein as this, if a bit more action-led, though I'd say Black Book is the better film.
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post #19 of 22
3/6/11 at 8:55am

On second viewing this film has crept into my top twenty of the 00s. Just a stunningly well made film, both exciting and surprisingly deep. It's a piece which moulds itself as a thriller, but is more interested in the history of Holland and the use, and betrayal, of power. It's almost Hitchcockian in how entertainingly suspenseful it is but it's also an unflinching portrayal of a very dark time in European History. The reprisals against Nazis and collaborators following the end of the War were brutal across Europe, but it's something that is often swept under the rug. I think it takes a director like Verhoeven to jab at that sort of wound and he really manages to pull it off. In fact I think the only punch he really pulls is in making Muntze perhaps a little too heroic. The guy is a commander of the SS and it doesn't sit well with me that he is portrayed as conflicted. 

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post #20 of 22
5/14/11 at 11:11pm
What's sorta fascinating about American critical reaction to the film is how it's hostile to the moral complexity. As if the notion that WWII was the "good war" and anything that undermines or betrays that notion is somehow "bad art."
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post #21 of 22
5/15/11 at 12:04am
I didn't know that was the US reaction. You would have thought enough time has passed to develop a more balanced view.

Anyone see FLAME AND CITRON? It's about 2 Danish resistance fighters in WW2. Thinking of checking it out.
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post #22 of 22
5/15/11 at 8:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pop Zeus View Post

What's sorta fascinating about American critical reaction to the film is how it's hostile to the moral complexity. As if the notion that WWII was the "good war" and anything that undermines or betrays that notion is somehow "bad art."


Really? I refuse to believe that. Not that I really give a shit what anyone feels about Verhoven after Starship Troopers sailed a mile above everyone's head.

 

 

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