“You mean sleep with him? I want things to be clear, is that what you mean?

 

Plot Summary: After her entire family is slaughtered by German soldiers, a sexy Jewish woman (Carice van Houten) joins the Resistance. Using her feminine wiles she infiltrates Gestapo headquarters and seduces the Nazi commandant as part of a plan to bring down the fascist regime.

Review:

Before making the likes of Robocop and Basic Instinct in Hollywood, Verhoeven directed some pretty serious-minded films in his native Holland, including a drama about the Nazi occupation, Soldier of Orange. Reportedly disenchanted with Hollywood, Verhoeven returned to Holland to make Black Book, which also deals with the Nazi Occupation, but he seems to have brought a lot of Hollywood baggage back with him.  Though supposedly based on a true story, I doubt Verhoeven even remotely stuck to the facts since the film is about as plausible as an old wartime Hollywood B-movie, complete with far-fetched twist and turns, sneering Nazis and sneaky traitors, dangerous espionage and narrow escapes, and lots of shootouts and fisticuffs. Also, the melodramatically pumped up music is reminiscent of a Hollywood film score, sounding a bit like John Williams - though more the Williams of Raiders of the Lost Ark than of Schindler’s List. Of course, Black Book has something those old Hollywood films lacked: plenty of gratuitous nudity and sex, as one would expect from the director of Showgirls. In a memorable scene that might make Sharon (Basic Instinct) Stone blush, van Houten dyes her pubes blonde - all for the greater cause, of course! All this is not to say that Black Book isn’t entertaining, but you’ll have to suspend your disbelief to fully enjoy this fast-paced, engrossing little action/adventure/soft core spy yarn.

Posted on April 9th, 2008 by Mat Viola
Filed under: Reviews