Black Book. (18.)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven.
Starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman. 145 mins
After twenty years in Hollywood, Paul (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers) Verhoven’s returns to his native land with this rollickingly good war time romp full of tales of derring do by the Dutch resistance. Set during the final months of World War II in Nazi occupied Holland, it centres on a Jewish girl (van Houten) who infiltrates Nazi headquarters and has an affair with a German officer (Koch.) It is based on true events – possibly damn near all of them.
It is the produce of all the stories he and co writer Gerard Soeteman had left over from their previous WWII film, Soldier of Orange. They seem to have taken every single amazing story they discovered during their research and woven them into a single extraordinary narrative of bravery, betrayal and degradation that stretches credibility to breaking point.
The barrage of twists and double crosses does get a bit much towards the end. Any other directors would have carefully pared it all down in to a single tense tale but Verhoven wants it all. He has never been a man to shy away from excess. The man is thoroughly shameless and just because he is addressing a sensitive period of history doesn’t mean he’s going to allow the dictates of good taste to inhibit him - there’s no skimping on the naked titties. When he ends up having a topless woman drenched in human excrement you may wonder whose excesses you’re supposed to be shocked by – the Nazis’ or his.
What saves him (for me anyway) is that he’s at least up front about it; he doesn’t hide his exploitative nature behind good intentions. The movie is handsomely mounted and tremendous, slightly old fashioned, entertainment in the way that war films used to be. I would say it is like a Hollywood made episode of Secret Army though on reflection I think it has more of the spirit of Allo Allo. Not once, but twice Verhoeven even pulls variations on the old “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?” gag. It must be great being him, but if I had a daughter I wouldn't let her anywhere near one of his films.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven.
Starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman. 145 mins
After twenty years in Hollywood, Paul (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers) Verhoven’s returns to his native land with this rollickingly good war time romp full of tales of derring do by the Dutch resistance. Set during the final months of World War II in Nazi occupied Holland, it centres on a Jewish girl (van Houten) who infiltrates Nazi headquarters and has an affair with a German officer (Koch.) It is based on true events – possibly damn near all of them.
It is the produce of all the stories he and co writer Gerard Soeteman had left over from their previous WWII film, Soldier of Orange. They seem to have taken every single amazing story they discovered during their research and woven them into a single extraordinary narrative of bravery, betrayal and degradation that stretches credibility to breaking point.
The barrage of twists and double crosses does get a bit much towards the end. Any other directors would have carefully pared it all down in to a single tense tale but Verhoven wants it all. He has never been a man to shy away from excess. The man is thoroughly shameless and just because he is addressing a sensitive period of history doesn’t mean he’s going to allow the dictates of good taste to inhibit him - there’s no skimping on the naked titties. When he ends up having a topless woman drenched in human excrement you may wonder whose excesses you’re supposed to be shocked by – the Nazis’ or his.
What saves him (for me anyway) is that he’s at least up front about it; he doesn’t hide his exploitative nature behind good intentions. The movie is handsomely mounted and tremendous, slightly old fashioned, entertainment in the way that war films used to be. I would say it is like a Hollywood made episode of Secret Army though on reflection I think it has more of the spirit of Allo Allo. Not once, but twice Verhoeven even pulls variations on the old “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?” gag. It must be great being him, but if I had a daughter I wouldn't let her anywhere near one of his films.
