Black Book main backdrop
Black Book main poster

Black Book

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7.5/10 • 1.2K

2006-09-142h 25m

DramaThrillerWar

To fight the enemy, she must become one of them.

In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.

Directors
Paul Verhoeven
Editors
James Herbert

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Carice van Houten

    Carice van Houten

    Rachel Stein / Ellis de Vries

  2. Sebastian Koch

    Sebastian Koch

    Ludwig Müntze

  3. Thom Hoffman

    Thom Hoffman

    Hans Akkermans

  4. Halina Reijn

    Halina Reijn

    Ronnie

  5. Waldemar Kobus

    Waldemar Kobus

    Günther Franken

  6. Matthias Schoenaerts

    Matthias Schoenaerts

    Joop

  7. Theo Maassen

    Theo Maassen

    Prison Guard with Baret

  8. Derek de Lint

    Derek de Lint

    Gerben Kuipers

  9. Christian Berkel

    Christian Berkel

    General Käutner

Reviews1

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Aug 9, 2020

6/10

Carice van Houten plays a spy working for the Dutch Resistance during WW2 During the German occupation of Netherlands in WW2, a Jewess singer turned spy (Carice van Houten) gains access to the Gestapo headquarters to help the Dutch Resistance. Sebastian Koch plays a sympathetic German officer while Waldemar Kobus is on hand as the heavy. Thom Hoffman plays an agent for the Resistance. “Black Book” (2006), aka “Zwartboek,” is a Euro WW2 film by Paul Verhoeven that balances drama, action, intrigue, romance and suspense. It’s reminiscent of contemporaneous flicks like “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) and “Valkyrie” (2008). It’s not great like the former, but it’s in the same league as the latter. Despite its length, the story movies along swiftly, albeit awkwardly on a couple occasions. Carice shines in the challenging key role and Koch is likable. There was one scene that I didn’t find convincing, but it was forgivable. Unfortunately there’s a twist in the last act involving a character that doesn’t gel with the character’s previous actions. The film runs 2 hours, 25 minutes, and was shot in the Netherlands with the bookend scenes filmed in Israel and studio work done in Brandenburg, Germany. GRADE: B-

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Status
Released
Original Language
Dutch
Budget
$21,000,000.00
Revenue
$26,768,563.00
Keywords
in love with enemyworld war iiprosecutionnetherlandssingernazi occupation1940sthe haguedutch resistance