Old-Style Miracle

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2007)

Best Verhoeven ever. It's a true old-style epic on World War II and the occupation of Holland, done with all that particular charm of those 30s movies that seemed never to return. However, the true miracle is Carice van Houten who tops the wonders of this film by delivering that hard-as-nails charm known from Paulette Goddard or Jean Arthur. She's as beautiful as both, and Vivien Leigh to boot, but - courtesy of the 21st millennium - bares more of her charms than the old stars ever did. It's van Houten's performance that saves the film from becoming merely a truly great thriller or whodunit, although, it must be said, Sebastian Koch (the dramatist in Das Leben der Anderen) does his bit, too. In fact, the entire film seems devoid of substandard acting. I could go on and on and on, but suffice it to say that Zwartboek is one of those films that you hope for throughout decades, and just when you give up - by way of a miracle, there it is. It ought to make the Foreign Language Oscar!