Picture a cross between Schindler's List and Starship Troopers... if such a thing is humanly possible.

Rating: 9/10 (17 April 2007)

For any self-respecting movie fan the words Directed By Paul Verhoeven are just about the ugliest and most blood curdling words one could imagine. This is a man responsible for such cinematic landmarks as Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Hollow Man, Robo-Cop, Starship Troopers and of course Showgirls. A man whose idea of subtlety involves full frontal nudity, excessive, perverted violence and a gratuitous two fingers to anyone who dares question him. He has been dubbed a pervert and is basically a walking controversy... in Hollywood that is. And here lies the key to the sheer greatness of Black Book: It is Verhoeven's first movie to be made entirely in his homeland of Holland since 1983. It therefore ranks alongside his previous Dutch-made movies Soldier Of Orange and Turkish Delight as one of his greatest movies.
It's a somewhat subtle and ambiguous movie (in particular the mixed and confusing portrayals of both Nazi officers and resistance fighters. Any pantomime-style cheers of hatred or disgust for the Nazis will most likely be followed by a "Er, maybe not", as will any cheers of support for the drab and corrupt resistance) and there are more double/triple/quadruple crossings than most audiences could care for, but it is an expertly crafted and beautifully acted movie. And of course it is a Paul Verhoeven movie so the expected gratuitous nudity, excessive violence and perverted degrading of central characters is very much present throughout the movie. Verhoeven is still a cheeky and explosively spontaneous filmmaker, so when you see human waste getting poured into a large vat you just know it's going to end up all over the lead character at some point. And yes, she's going to be half-naked at the time.
Altogether it's a very strange movie. Going in to the movie it's impossible to know what to expect and upon leaving the movie it's equally impossible to not to surprised, moved and maybe a little disgusted by what you've seen (it is after all, a very big bucket of poo). Picture a cross between Schindler's List and Starship Troopers... if such a thing is humanly possible. The message, if there is one, seems to be that the lines between good and bad aren't as clear as they would first seem. A message we've all heard before of course, but it's never been told quite like this.