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Film

WWII story captivates, as does its leading lady

Rachel Stein, played by captivating Carice van Houten, hides from Nazis in a Christian household in Holland until it is bombed, sending her scurrying into the arms of the Allied underground and a short-lived reunion with her family. She barely escapes the ambush that kills her kin, emerging with vengeance in mind.

By Steve Persall
Published May 3, 2007

Black Book (R) (145 min.) - Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven returns home and back to form, 20 years after being seduced from both by prospects of U.S. fame and fortune. Verhoeven adapted well early on, with hits RoboCop, Basic Instinct and Total Recall. Then the embarrassing misses - Showgirls, Starship Troopers and Hollow Man -ended his American fling.

Black Book has nothing in common with any of those movies except the tough female mystique at most of their cores. Verhoeven goes historical, rather than sci-fi or sleazy. But there's plenty of sex and violence in Black Book, inspired by World War II experiences of Jewish women vamping their way to survival.

The fictional composite is Rachel Stein, played by captivating Carice van Houten, an unknown talent here but not for long. Rachel hides from Nazis in a Christian household in Holland until it is bombed, sending her scurrying into the arms of the Allied underground and a short-lived reunion with her family. She barely escapes the ambush that kills her kin, emerging with vengeance in mind.

Rachel dyes her dark hair blond and becomes Ellis DeVries, a sexpot who attracts the eye of Nazi officer Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch). He suspects her heritage but can't resist her wiles. Rachel/Ellis becomes a Mata Hari of sorts, using her sexuality to obtain secret information for the underground. Eventually she learns that the people she trusted shouldn't be, and that those she despised have hints of goodness among them.

Black Book is presented as an old-fashioned war yarn, the kind Gregory Peck might have starred in 50 years ago, and Michael Douglas failed to match in Shining Through. The pacing and dialogue are admirably brisk, even with the film's extended running time, and a propulsive musical score keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. Double- and triple-crosses dictated by the screenplay stretch patience a bit, although the climax features a remarkably poetic justice justifying them.

The film's galvanizing force is van Houten, a vision of European beauty with transcontinental talent. Watch her quicksilver shifts in emotions and the guile concealing them, easy sensuality yet underlying contempt for her paramours. Each generation brings new stars from abroad to lend fresh dimensions to U.S. movie stardom. Van Houten may be our next Greta Garbo, Liv Ullmann or Charlize Theron. 

Grade: A

[Last modified May 2, 2007, 12:41:29]