Outstanding WWII resistance film

Rating: 10/10 (28 May 2007)

I won't bore you by parroting the many great reviews, but there are two things I'd like to add, one which helped make this film more meaningful to me and another, a change I talked to friends about which I thought would heighten the tension. Just what we need, right?
I saw the French resistance film, "Army of Shadows" earlier in 2006. It was written and directed by men who had served in the French Resistance and was one of the most moving films I've ever seen. I was totally involved with the characters and almost felt it personally when something happened to a resistance fighter. My empathy for these brave men and women could not be greater.
This film set me up for "Black Book". I thought it was a marvelous film and all the more meaningful for having seen "Army". I had more depth of understanding and, of course, my empathy was on high alert. There were so many episodes of resistance exploits over and above those we've seen in films that one could write volumes about in the "You can't make this stuff up" category. It's just amazing and thrilling to see what was done to get the Nazis out of those occupied countries.
I had let it slip my mind that in WWII the Allies hopped over Holland on their way to Berlin, so it was occupied right up to the German surrender. A lot of Nazi frustration for their being on the eventual losing side was taken out on the Dutch. I suspect this film could have been much more harsh, but I'm glad the director didn't overwhelm us -- not that he spared us either, of course.
Since it's available in US format now, I'd suggest watching "Army of Shadows" followed by another viewing of "Black Book". I can't wait for "Black Book" to come to DVD so I can have my own resistance double feature.
The second item is tossed in for comments or whatever. It's clearly not a spoiler to say our heroine survives some pretty dire and painful situations. Hey, we see her in the Kibbutz at the start of the film. If that intro were not in the film we wouldn't know if she survives and there would be yet another layer of tension. What do you think? Having said this, if I saw the film restructured like this and liked it I'd have to change the rating system to award it more stars -- 12, 15 maybe?