Another Verhoeven's masterpiece in Holland

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2013)

Conquerors have often had the tendency to beautify, glorify their contribution and the events towards victories. This has brought along hundreds of films where dramatic events have been dealt with black-and- white manner. Zwartboek is a pleasant exception which shows life in harsh and uncertain circumstances in a realistic manner, with "good" and "bad" people and actions in both sides. The plot is solid and intense, has several twists and turns, catchy action scenes and dramatic moments. The value is enhanced by filming in real locations (joy of recognition; however, it increased the budget a lot) and the use of both Dutch and German actors, thus the original languages were spoken during the film. The cast is very strong and with character actors mainly, beginning with Carice van Houten as Rachel Stein / Ellis de Vries and Sebastian Koch as Ludwig Müntze - both internationally famous European actors.
Highly recommended to those fond of versatile war films with strong feelings and dynamic events. It is no wonder that, in 2008, the Dutch public voted it the best Dutch film ever.