Dans Hamptons

Verhoeven is back, and I don’t mean maybe! Paul Verhoeven’s return to the Netherlands has resulted in his first Dutch film in twenty years. It’s title, Black Book, is a registry of the names of Jewish families who attempted to escape German-occupied Holland in 1944, only to be betrayed. It resulted in their murder by the Nazis, who also stole their savings and possessions. The film is spoken in Dutch, German, English and Hebrew, however, the universality of the storytelling moves it like a bullet and it is more piercing.

If Verhoeven’s name doesn’t ring a distant, clangorous bell, it isn’t his fault. He was born in Amsterdam, and not long after his arrival here, with quite a few impressive films under his belt, the impudent, colorful Dutch director began painting Hollywood with shamefully-exciting-at-any-cost films that were more and more brushed with audacious, blue erotic tints and blood-red violence, like Arnold’s Total Recall. Verhoeven also carefully staged the careless leg-crossing of panty-less Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Provocative Paul then poked his finger into the eye of the stormy censorship controversy with his off-the-charts NC-17-rated Showgirls. Showgirls is perfectly awful and perfectly delightful. Teetering between terrible and grand, he staggered the studio system with Robocop, Flesh+Blood and Starship Troopers. Unfortunately, his 2000 Sci-Fi Hollow Man, about an invisible man, created an invisible audience. He returned to Holland as a prosperous figure who had reshaped Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lumpy figure into that of an icon, and pulled the arcane Motion Picture-rating system into a twist.

The Netherlands have a lot of windmills, but none that Verhoeven had to battle. The Dutch do not have the same contradictory prudery that is displayed here. He relaxed. Then, he set to work on an early film subject, which was about Holland’s World War II resistance.

I’ve provided the account of Verhoeven’s career to indicate how Black Book came about. His early Dutch films include Soldier of Orange, his 1979 heroic story of Holland’s resistance with screenwriter Gerard Soeteman. Taking place in the final days of the underground war against the occupying Germans, Verhoeven goes over-the-top again with shaping a series of skirmishes, battles, spying, murder, love, breathless escapes, underhanded poisoning and over-drawn heroics, but we’re talkin?’ Verhoeven. Yes, Black Book also seethes with eroticism.

The movie’s real hero is a Jew desperately attempting to evade the Germans. She is Rachel Stein, brilliantly performed by Carice van Houten (certainly bound for stardom). Rachel sees her home demolished and her family annihilated. She manages to get away with a spectacular dive to safety. Ms. van Houten’s Rachel bristles with hatred and revenge. She enlists with the Resistance fighters, who want her for espionage. They have her dye her hair blonde to look Aryan. She complies, completely. Verhoeven, being Verhoeven, shows her dying the hair everywhere on her body. Well, with that done, she assumes the persona of a singer to entertain the Nazis and, there, she meets and beds a Nazi Gestapo chief, Ludwig Muntze, played by the incomparable actor of the Oscar-winning film, The Lives of Others, Sebastian Koch. This is more dangerous than her first job smuggling guns. She goes to work at Nazi headquarters and wires it to inform the Resistance of their plans. This ignites a chain of explosive reactions and action scenes with multiple incidents. But percolating beneath is the truly hot love affair of van Houten and Koch - it veritably sizzles, as does the plot that uncovers profiteers and traitorous horrors within the Resistance itself. Prisoner abuse is incredibly stomach-turning (Abu Ghraib, an easy reference). Plot twists and turns pile up almost uncontrollably, but Carice’s Rachel keeps us nailed to the screen.

Black Book’s opening scenes begin in 1950 in Israel. Rachel has found a satisfactory haven there. Though she bravely faced the trials of the war years, she could not have dreamt of peace, even as her German officer lover, Ludwig, attempted to avoid further deaths by arranging a truce. Now in an Israeli kibbutz, memories flood back to her, beginning with the onset of her extraordinary wartime experiences. It was the day she impetuously sailed with a young man, only to be crushed by the sight of German planes bombing her home to bits. The remainder of the film unravels in flashbacks to its stunning conclusion and the surprising significance of the Black Book. If it’s thrilling, Verhoeven will exploit it.

Guy Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of award winning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at Major Film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, the Emmy’s and various film festivals. Sarah Halsey assists him.