I apologise, we feel bad, but there's no trailer available. ~Ed.
Jet-black swastikas on blood-red banners; graphic violence and frontal nudity; characters as serious as a sermon. It must be a Paul Verhoeven film.
Verhoeven’s “good” movies – Robocop, Starship Troopers – are skilful critiques of his adopted America. In the guise of pulpy sci-fi, these are some of Hollywood’s cleverest critiques of Western capitalist excess and Imperialist foreign policy – revealing, in both, the worrying fascist undertones and gleefully pointing out how much we get off on them.
But across the good and not-so-good, constant across Paul Verhoeven’s career is an (often graphic) exploration of the human will to power. And the danger is that peering into such an abyss is a two-way thing: the monster at the bottom is liable to peer back. (The question looms often in Black Book: Is Paul Verhoeven an explorer of fascism and misogyny, or is he just a fascistic misogynist?)
So in making a movie set in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, the problem becomes obvious: if your stock-in-trade is subversively revealing the power-crazed undercurrent of an era, you don’t really have much to do if your movie is about the Third Reich. Subverting American values, yes, fine - but is there really much of a market for eloquent condemnations of the politics of the Nazis? These were bad guys: we’re aware of that, Paul, you’re going to have to give us something more.
And he does: toward the end of Black Book’s 2.5 hour running time, we’re treated to something of a violent reversal that goes some way toward musing on some tricky truths about power. It’s just a shame it takes about 90 minutes to get there. And that’s 90 minutes of clever but pedestrian plot, laden with violence that’s more than token but less than wrenching, and sexuality that veers from refreshingly frank to screen-breakingly stupid.
Which is to say, Verhoeven’s back in town.
By Tom Goulter, Flicks.co.nz
A strong story. The subtitles suited a drama appropriately played out in the language of the characters (German and Dutch). It portrays the life-and-death tension of WW2 Europe during the time of German military occupation. This movie is about such a recent chapter in world history - only 60-odd years ago. Indeed, the story prompted my discussion with a Dutch family farming here in the Waikato where one gentleman was aged 8 to 12 years old during the occupation of Holland. Older youth were kept in hiding and the younger kids (like him) had to do all the farm work etc. He recalls his parents hiding a basic radio in the laundry roof - if it was found they could be shot or sent to a work camp. 'Black Book' shows that cruelty and prejudice can take hold in any camp, not just among the 'bad guys', and similarly kindness and trust is found when not expected.
Epic film, writ large and in largely in blood - as befit the times - nothing effete or uncertain in any of it. Ravishing to look at, visceral and plot driven. I also have to ask, where does Paul Verhoven find his leading actresses? Carice van Houten defies description and both she and Sebastian Koch give a hell of a performance. Just outstanding.
In my opinion the movie was the best in the war genre for some time, the plot plausible, the main actress superb, the denouement was gripping, the story tragic.
I had no idea what to expect when I walked into this movie. What I found was one of the best movies I have seen in the last twelve months. Powerful, gripping, moving. War is ugly: occupation, collaboration, fear, betrayal,greed, but also humanity and courage. By way of comparison Atonement is a pretty reasonable movie but its through a soft focus lens when compared to Black Book.
The lead is gorgeous. And the movie is REAL good too!
It's a twisty tale robustly told with lashings of sex and violence. Yes, despite the prestige-pic trappings, Verhoeven hasn't lost touch with his basic instincts; who else could bring us a scene of a woman dyeing her nether regions?..
1/2 Verhoeven pauses occasionally to make some timely points about the interchangeability of the words 'terrorist' and 'freedom-fighter', but is mostly concerned with filling his lengthy movie with as much punctured or penetrated flesh as possible. I never expected to laugh so hard at what was possibly supposed to be a serious film...
Expecting subtlety from Paul Verhoeven, the enfant terrible Dutch export behind Basic Instinct, would really be the triumph of hope over experience. But this World War II drama, Verhoeven's first film at home since 1983, beguiles by seeming at first to be the story of a Jewish woman getting one over on the Nazis. Faint hope. This is the Holocaust as soft-porn soap opera in which the heroine's major task is to be at least topless and, when possible, completely naked...
Audacious, smart, shamelessly entertaining...
It succeeds on almost all fronts. The epic film is a high-octane adventure rooted in fact with a raft of arresting characters, big action sequences and twists and turns galore...
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 11th Oct 2007.
Release date: October 11th 2007.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
