Black Book with Carice van Houten: DVD Cover
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Black Book
a.k.a. Zwartboek Director: Paul Verhoeven Cast: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn

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  • DVD Release Date: 09/25/2007
  • Original Release: 2006
  • Rating: Rated R
  • Sales Rank: 3,742

Viewer Rating: (5 ratings)

Detailed Rating: "Performances" See All

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Blu-ray - Wide Screen$31.19

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  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
  • Cast & Crew
  • Full Product Details

Scenes

Features

Making of Black Book featurette; Commentary with director Paul Verhoeven

Full Product Details

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Black Book
1. A Friend From the War [4:03]
2. Air Raid [4:07]
3. A Visitor In the Night [7:13]
4. Massacre [6:03]
5. Smuggled In [3:39]
6. The Resistance [5:10]
7. Strangers On a Train [4:38]
8. A Change In Plans [5:38]
9. Infiltration [5:08]
10. Music With a Murder [4:50]
11. Sleeping With the Enemy [6:53]
12. Interrogation [3:44]
13. Planting the Bug [4:12]
14. Listening In [5:43]
15. Kidnap Gone Wrong [6:50]
16. Suspicion [5:48]
17. Rescue Attempt [4:04]
18. Ambush [6:41]
19. Betrayal [:21]
20. Liberation [5:14]
21. Parade [5:35]
22. Death Warrant [6:00]
23. Branded a Traitor [3:40]
24. Chocolate [4:29]
25. The Black Book [6:53]
26. A Failed Escape [4:37]
27. Suffication [4:15]
28. End Credits [2:31]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

Filmmaker Paul Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands after more than twenty years of success in Hollywood to direct this epic-scale war drama based on a true story. Rachel Steinn (Carice van Houten) is a beautiful Jewish woman living in German-occupied Holland during late 1944. Her family members - who have been falsely promised safe passage to Belgium (their names recorded in the 'black book' of the title) are instead robbed and slaughtered by the Germans on a premeditated basis; Rachel herself manages to escape by diving into the water and swimming away. She narrowly avoids capture, then joins the local resistance movement. With her hair dyed blonde, Rachel can easily pass for Aryan, and when the leader of the Dutch resistance movement learns his son has been captured by Axis forces, Rachel is asked to use her feminine charms to persuade a German commander to arrange for the boy's release. Rachel soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous double life as she becomes a sexual plaything for the Nazis while attempting to bring down their evil empire as a spy. Zwartboek was written by Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman, who collaborated on the 1977 international success Soldier of Orange. Zwartboek received its world premier at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

  • Viewer Rating:
  • Ratings: 5Reviews: 2

Black Book is an excellent telling of a Nazi Germany story.by LynnMarie09

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August 12, 2009: This movie is excellent. From casting to scenery to plot, the story is easy to follow although heart-wrenching to comprehend.

A Stunning, Compelling Film on Every Levelby Anonymous

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September 27, 2007: Just when we think we have read about or seen all of the stories there are to tell about courageous heroes/heroines who sacrificed much for the sake of many during World War II, along comes BLACK BOOK (ZWARTBOEK) with another dramatic 'biography' of a significant figure. Director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Spetters, Total Recall) is a much admired Dutch artist who is able to draw his audience into another world so real that it literally feels as though we are part of the process. And that is precisely why this film works so well: the audience as a participant drives home the film's message that war changes people, that from one day to the next it is impossible to distinguish the 'bad' from the 'good', the 'enemy' from the 'friend'. Rachel Stein (the enormously gifted Carice van Houten) was a Jewish Dutch born cabaret singer in Berlin until the war broke out, at which time she returned to Holland to hide during the Jewish Solution. A series of incidents in 1944 destroy her hiding place and thwart her attempts to join her family to escape the Nazis. She is left to fend by herself until she bonds with a group from the Dutch Resistance. Gaining their confidence she is asked to masquerade as a German singer, dye all of her body hair blond, enter Germany as the consort of a doctor Hans Akkerman (Thom Hoffman) and infiltrate the highest elements of the Nazi regime, namely to become the mistress of Gestapo head Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch) changing her name to Ellis de Vries. She stays in contact with the Resistance, places microphones in strategic positions, and with her friend Ronnie (Halina Reijn) becomes a Nazi party girl, singing at events while assisting her colleagues underground. The story is complex with many surprises as to who is with the Nazis and who is with the Resistance, and the story is so well told that we the audience are left guessing identities much the same as the characters. Paul Verhoeven wrote the screenplay with Gerard Soeteman and Verhoeven's dedication to his story is always present. There is a considerable violence and some sections that may offend viewers, but try to tell a true war story without including such aspects! The cast is brilliant, especially the multi-talented Carice van Houten, easily one of the finest actresses on the screen today. The entire cast is includes such gifted actors as Waldemar Kobus, Derek de Lint, Christian Berkel, Dolf de Vries, Michiel Huisman and Ronald Armbrust. The cinematography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub recreates not only The Hague, Holland, and Germany but also a kibbutz in Israel with solid veracity. Anne Dudley has created a musical score that includes songs from the period (sung beautifully by Carice van Houten), and atmospheric scoring for the tender scenes as well as the many tense scenes. Released in Europe in 2006, it is not clear as to whether this film will be eligible for the Oscars this year. If it is it should win. It is one of the finest films this reviewer has seen in a long time. In Dutch, German, Hebrew, and English with subtitles. Highly Recommended! Grady Harp