Zwartboek (Black Book)

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ The Cathay Picturehouse (23/05)
Snacks: Not Allowed

another foreign film? really?

Rachel Stein (Carice Van Houten) is a Jewish singer from before WWII who is now hiding in the Netherlands to avoid persecution from the Nazis.
but when her hiding place is bombed, she has no choice but to attempt to flee across the river to Belgium.

when things go wrong however, she is brought back to the Netherlands where she has changed he name to Ellis de Vries and she is recruited into the Resistance led by Gerben Kuipers (Derek de Lint) and his right-hand man Hans Akkermans (Thom Hoffman).
a chance then arises for Ellis to delve deeper into the Resistance's cause and infiltrate the Gestapo headquarters by seducing SS officer Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch) and stealing information which is vital to the mission of saving innocent lives and hampering the Nazis' reign of terror.

not only does Ellis now have to deal with Müntze and other Gestapo officers Günther Franken (Waldemar Kobus) and General Käutner (Christian Berkel), she also has to face the fact that she has fallen in love with the man she was supposed to be stealing secrets from.

from here on in it is a wild ride of suspense and action.
throw in a few twists and turns and you will find yourself right in the middle of the action as if you yourself are there.

i don't know about you guys but i'm a sucker for movies that have anything to do with World War II and with such a great plot and story-development i'd be hard pressed to give this movie the credit it deserves.
director Paul Verhoeven's usual gritty yet artistic style yet again shines through in this Dutch movie which garnered so many awards in its home country.
even with the added hassle of reading the subtitles (unless you understand dutch) you'll still be able to enjoy what this movie can offer.

ps it helps that Carice Van Houten is so bloody hot.
nudity aside. she's got one of those 'old-world beauties' things going for her.

Final Verdict: