Definitely worth seeing but DEFINITELY for an adult audience.

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2011)

"Black Book" is an excellent film about a seldom talked about period and place in history--the final days of Holland during the Nazi occupation. Unfortunately, however, it is not a film for everyone because it is very, very graphic--in many different ways. As a result, it clearly is not a film for everyone and I certainly would not recommend it to kids or the easily offended. It's sad, because with a few edits, this would have been a fantastic film--one for everyone. But, at heart, it's still an exceptional film.
Carice van Houten did a great job in the lead. She played 'Ellis'--a Jewish lady whose hiding place was destroyed in 1944--a year before the war ended. Now with no place to hide, she and her family head to supposed freedom in Belgium (which at this point in time is under Allied control). But they are betrayed in a scheme to loot and then murder all of them. Yet somehow, she escaped and falls into the lap of the Dutch Resistance. There she is soon called upon to do something horrid--to seduce the local head of the SS and thereby infiltrate the Nazis. And, as she's beautiful and a very talented singer, she is soon in a position where she can help the Resistance. But it isn't all that easy. First, many different surprising things occur--and I won't mention them to you because I don't want to spoil the film. But one I will mention is the surprise--as eventually she finds herself in love with her quarry--a Jewish lady falling for and having sympathy for a 'good Nazi'!
Let's talk about the acting. First, it's interesting that van Houten didn't get nominated for a Best Actress award, as she did exactly what another recent great performance did. In "Inglourious Basterds", Christoph Waltz rightly wowed the Academy--with his fine acting AND great multilingual performance. Well, van Houten did the same--speaking four different languages and doing a heck of a performance. Plus, she really allowed the director, Paul Verhoeven, to put her through a hellish performance! The difference, I think, is that "Black Book" was not a Hollywood production AND it was not a nominee for Best Foreign Language film. In addition, can van Houten looked better simply because all her supporting actors did a great job as well. You can't help but give a great performance when those around you are professionals on top of their game.
As for the graphic aspects of the film, the worst was not the nudity (though there was a lot, I could at least understand the purpose to almost all of it) but the gross imagery not necessarily related to the war. Now it did not bother me seeing dead bodies--wars are about death. But I did NOT want to watch people urinate, throw up or have HUGE buckets of human waste dropped on them. Couldn't have been done without this?!
The film, aside from the nasty graphic portions, was nearly perfect. And, despite its length, it was neither over-long nor had any lulls. Exciting, compelling and very different. This is a film you may love but it's a hard one to to respect.