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| Black Book | 
 enlarge | Director: Paul Verhoeven
Actors: Carice Van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn, Waldemar Kobus
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy New: $6.50
You Save: $8.44 (56%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $6.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  (92 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1671
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Dutch (Original Language), English (Original Language), German (Original Language), Hebrew (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 146 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: COLD18495D
UPC: 043396184954
EAN: 0043396184954
ASIN: B000TGCR38
Release Date: September 25, 2007
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Very Disappointed June 18, 2008
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am very disappointed in this production as the English sub-titles are very limited and it's not possible to follow the story. We had seen it in the movie theatres where the sub-titles completely covered the story, but this is not so on the product we bought. It's an excellent story, but unless the viewer can understand Hollance, it is extremely frustrating to try and grasp what is going on.
 The Most Disturbing Graphic Holocaust Movie Ever. June 7, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
I struggled with this review. I know the Holocaust was as bad as this movie portrays. I have watched most movies out there on WWII. The acting was very good and the plot very complex. The scene everyone is upset about with the hair coloring did not bother me so much as a Jewish woman whould have to do what she did to pass as Arian.
It is just very brutal/sexual. So much shooting and blood and the final horrid thing where the hero is stripped and waste is poured over her was just too much for me to stand.
So I say it is a 5 star as far as qualaity and truth. But how it leaves you feeling is a 1 so I settled on 3.
If you cannot handle total violence then choose one of the many other great Holocaust movies to learn more. This will leave you very upset and traumatized.
 One of Verhoeven's Best May 24, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Black Book" attempts to assay a path between Spielberg's historical melodrama and Hitchcock's espionage thriller. There are one or two jarring missteps along the way, which cause me to grade director Paul Verhoeven's effort with four stars. But, flawed though it may be, and even though it covers similar territory as many other films ("Lacombe, Lucien" and "The Night Porter" are among many that spring to mind) "Black Book" remains fresh and hugely entertaining.
I credit vibrant performances, especially the lead performance by Carice Van Houten. She is never less than credible in portraying the smart, sassy survivor Rachel Stein, AKA "Ellis De Vries". This is a character and a performance that withstands all humiliations. (If you've seen the film, you will understand what I mean.)
Paul Verhoeven as a director always steers clear of the "politically correct". But I don't believe that he goes over the top, here. There is very little in the movie that is prurient, or even sexy, except perhaps a ribald song about a "little pianola".
Of more interest are the ways that Verhoeven continues to examine the psychology of Fascism, all the while turning many cliches on their heads.
Like Jerzy Kosinski in his novel "The Painted Bird", Verhoeven shows us that ignorant mobs can be more barbaric than Nazis, and that Fascism itself is a virus that few are immune from. Verhoeven even satirizes the severe religious fervor of some Dutch Christians, as he portrays a Resistance fighter who refuses to kill a collaborator until the unfortunate man makes the mistake of taking the lord's name in vain.
"Black Book" fulfills the first imperative of moviemaking, which is to entertain. If some people find it "too entertaining" for the subject matter, that is their problem.
P.S. If anyone is interested in reading an excellent book of fiction on similar themes (i.e. a woman who survives the war through collaboration), I recommend Jenna Blum's "Those Who Save Us" wholeheartedly.
 A Truly Great Film May 21, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have lately watched a number of European films and have come to the conclusion that, for straightforward storytelling with gripping scripts, wonderful production values and superb actors, the Europeans are putting Hollywood to shame.
In the present case, this is an absolutley outstanding movie. I cannot praise it highly enough. Carice van Houten gives a top-notch performance. What a woman! None of that cheap, phony Hollywood "strong woman" nonsense here. This is a real woman with guts, brains and heart. Everyone is perfectly cast and utterly believable. The story itself is highly entertaining, adventurous, moving, suspenseful and full of surprises as Carice's character moves through her life-changing WWII experience.
This is what movies are all about folks.
PAUL VERHOEVEN, OPUS 14 May 11, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
**** 2006. Co-written and directed by Paul Verhoeven. End of WWII in the Netherlands. A Jewish young woman joins the local Resistance and seduces the chief of the Gestapo. Ten years after Starship Troopers, twenty years after Robocop (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) and thirty years after Soldier of Orange, another excellent movie of the Dutch director. As to most of Verhoeven heroes, the end justifies the means according to Ellis de Vries, BLACK BOOK'S heroine. Between the figure of evil personified by Gestapo officer Guenther Franken and Derek de Lint, head of the Resistance, there is a grey zone where people try to survive and be in the same time or in the same life, good and bad; the characters of Ronnie, the young Dutch woman who sleeps with German officers and of Ludwig Muentze, the chief of the Gestapo, are thus emblematic for the director. The ambiguity of this moral assertion won't surprise those of us who attended the Dutch and American artistic journey of Paul Verhoeven. Highly recommended.
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