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He's been away from cinema screens for a while, but Black Book proves that Paul Verhoeven has lost none of his directorial flair. The film is packed with the things audiences have come to expect from him, including bloody violence and nudity (neither in quite as abundant supply as in some previous films), and something else that he also usually provides but is rarely given credit for: a gripping narrative. Black Book is does not imitate the gritty feel of recent World War 2 films, instead opting for the polished and slick approach similar to that of Hollywood WW2 films in the sixties - although it does go to some darker places than those did. The film is carried by the central performance of Dutch actress Carice van Houten, who deserves the wider recognition that this film could bring her, as she lends the character believable intelligence and emotion. Verhoeven employs a framing device, bookending the main plot with two scenes set in 1956 in Israel, which at first I didn't like but it became relevant at the end. The action and intrigue in the film is plentiful, the suspense only slightly slackening in the final part after the war ends. The main 'evil' Nazi is a bit of a pantomime villain, which is a shame, because most of the other characters are interesting and fairly three-dimensional.
The summary
Black Book is not the sort of war film that we have become accustomed to in recent years. Instead, it is an engrossing (and quite unrealistic) tale of espionage and double-crossing with the background of the Second World War.
