Visually stunning, hanging on Carice van Houten's beauty

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2007)

OK so I saw this film a while ago, but I never had the time to review it, but now I do. This was probably the first Dutch film I've ever seen and to be honest I was quite pleased with it as well. I also like the language a lot, it kind of fascinates me. To me it was sort of German and English blended together and I enjoyed hearing it. It's very easy for your ears. Anyway, the movie itself tells about a Jewish woman, Rachel Stein, who during the World War II hides from the Nazis in The Netherlands. By different circumstances and accidents she joins a dutch resistance group and under a false name Ellis de Vries she becomes a spy at a German headquarters.
The story is all in all very interesting and the screenplay is very good. It includes so much plot twists that the movie is an exciting experience throughout. The story is very original too as it's not just another story about WW2. An interesting way of coming up with a plot based on WW2 and that is what also makes it so fascinating. Though there are some battle scenes the main focus isn't on them, it's totally on the story which also has enough depth in it to keep the viewer far away from bored. Directing is also very enjoyable, directed by Paul Verhoeven, it definitely compliments the story by being accurate and precise, having this good tempo and a great way of describing or showing things. There are probably a couple of unnecessary scenes included and although for example the nude scenes are supposed to be realistic the nudity is also pretty useless and it doesn't wake up any emotions in the viewer, being basically just unnecessary.
The best thing this movie has to offer is undeniably the role performance of Carice van Houten who plays the role of Rachel Stein aka Ellis de Vries. The movie pretty much hangs in the hands of van Houten, the role performance is simply superb and she just shines with her beauty. She is just so beautiful in the film that it makes the viewer adore her, probably even worship her. Being so real and so true she keeps the movie on its feet, being simply the definite glaze of the movie. Another role performance worth mentioning is the role performance done by Sebastian Koch, who plays the role of Ludwig Müntze, an SS-officer who meets Rachel at a train smuggling weapons. The meeting comes more important than Rachel thought, as when she becomes the spy at the German headquarters the headquarters is actually lead by Müntze. Koch is just so brilliant in the role. I thought he was more enjoyable in "Das Leben der Anderen" though, but there's nothing to complain about him in "Zwartboek" either.
What catches your eyes besides the beauty of Carice van Houten is how visually stunning the movie is. The use of colours is just magnificent and all the other visual sides are all in all an incredible achievement. I have to raise my hat for the whole art department and also the department responsible for the costume design, as that was also a pleasure for your eyes as well. The glaze of Carice van Houten actually makes me think of older movies and the first one coming up to my mind is "Casablanca" where Ingrid Bergman did pretty much the same thing, although these two movies can not be compared together, even when it comes to the beauty of van Houten and Bergman. Bergman's beauty is just so classic, when van Houten's represents the world today, although it is probably also going to be a classic after 50 years. At the moment comparing is just out of question. The music used in the film is very old fashioned and it just fits with the them so well, well it's based on WW2 after all. Composed by Anne Dudley it gives more of that realistic edge for the movie and by beautiful and gloomy compositions it's more than important, it's necessary. And it's brilliant.
"Zwartboek" is all in all a good movie. It had the chance of being much more than that, but it somehow goes wrong in some part. Not actually wrong, but it kind of looses it's flow, although it somehow is interesting throughout. Hard to explain really, but that's how it is. The movie is definitely worth watching though it isn't phenomenal. It doesn't have to be, as when being good a movie is always worth watching. If you want to recall the old times when movies were made with style and with a lead female actor who melted the hearts of men then this movie is definitely for you, though I could describe it as a modernized version. A good movie, a good achievement from Verhoeven.