Black Book (2006)

Premise: A Jewish woman (Carice van Houten) joins the Dutch Resistance and ends up working undercover as the secretary (and lover) of the head of the Dutch Gestapo, Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch).

Director and co-writer Paul Verhoeven hasn't had the best of luck with his recent movies on this side of the Atlantic. The notorious Showgirls, the maligned Starship Troopers, the horrible Hollow Man. The fact that it's been six years and the rumour that he and co-writer Gerard Soeteman have spent twenty years hammering out the script suggest that there is something different this time around. And there is. This movie is really good.

What a find van Houten is! Unknown to Feria Films prior to this screening, she is magnificent in this role. She strikes a wonderful balance between the oppression of Rachel's circumstances and her will to survive.

The chemistry between van Houten and Koch is as fun to watch as it is nerve-wracking. The instant bond between them is never explained or even spoken of, but that made it seem all the more natural, as though it came from some deep sadness that neither one could begin to express. Koch remains as dignified and sexy as he was in The Lives of Others but a little more dangerous. He also speaks English! Well, for a line.

I could have done without Anne Dudley's ridiculously over-wrought score or some of Verhoeven's desire to capture absolutely everything (Rachel dyes all her hair to go undercover). Aside from those, there's magic at work here. It's sad and it's plausible and it gets under your skin. A-