Good concept, poorly executed.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Viewed at Rouen Nordic Film Festival 2007. The undisputed highlight of an otherwise routine week in Rouen was that "Basic Instinct" man, Paul Verhoeven's new Dutch film, "Zwartboek" or (the little) Black Book. After a 20 year Hollywood career during which the Dutch director came up with such megahits as "Robocop" and "Basic Instinct" Black Book marks his return to his native turf and native language. The story, co-written by Verhoeven, centers on a very attractive Jewish woman who is the sole survivor of a group of Jews attempting to escape from occupied Holland towards the end of the war in a boat. Posing as a gentile blonde under a non-Jewish name (her false papers furnished by the Underground) she becomes the mistress of a highly placed Gestapo officer and is given a job in Gestapo Headquarters from where she is able to pass critical information on to the resistance. However, one thing leads to another in this highly charged complex plot where everybody is double-crossing everybody else in a typically Verhoevenesque drama of interlocking paranoia. Eventually Miss De Vries's cover is blown and another ultimately sleazy Gestaponik succeeds in making it look like she is actually collaborating with the Krauts. In the end as the Americans arrive and the country is liberated she is being chased by both sides -- especially because she has come into possession of a little black book which gives facts, figures, and names of key people involved in the fake smuggling of Jews with big-big dividends. In a role which reads something like The Perils of Pauline in WW II our heroine (Carice van Houten) at one point has to gobble a whole chocolate bar to counteract a nearly fatal dose of insulin injected into her arm by a false Dutch "hero" of The Resistance.The plot is so complicated that it may take two viewings to sort it all out, but one thing which is perfectly clear -- (to invoke the words of an infamous ex-president) -- perfectly clear it is, that Carice van Houten, the heroine of the story, is, with this film, well on the way to installing herself as the next great international female Superstar. (Remember, you read it here first!) Ms. Van Houten, who is probably pushing thirty, has been around for a while and is currently the most popular actress in Holland -- which isn't saying much in terms of international recognition, but Little Black Book is on marquees almost everywhere so it seems to be only a matter of time before she is discovered by the outside world. Van Houten has a screen presence far more gripping than Sharon Stone, who became an overnight star as the heroine of Verhoeven's "Basic Instinct" circa 1991 and is a far better actress.If "Black Book", which is currently on wide release in the States, doesn't do it for her all Verhoeven needs to do to launch another (more high-powered) Sharon Stone, is to come out with "Basic Instinct III" with Van Houten in the lead and La Stone will be a forgotten melody. Carice van Houten has it all; charisma, good looks both enigmatic and down-to-earth, sex appeal to burn -- AND she can act! This may be ridiculously early to talk about Oscar 2008, but in my book she's already there.PS: Alas, Van Houten was never discovered by Hollywood -- their loss!

I cannot understand how this movie gets 7.8 in IMDb. It is a complete disaster! How a tragic, dramatically dense and tense theme (promising extraordinary things had a talented scriptwriter taken the job) ended up as a bland cartoon with linear characters and all disrespect for credibility is something truly unexplainable.There is not a single credible scene in the movie; nothing sticks to the golden rule of plausibility: neither the direction, nor the acting and much less the script. Even if this is based on real events, the director has managed to present them in the most unbelievable way, not once, not twice, but scene after scene until the end, making the spectators sigh with regret and repeating to themselves "Oh, come on! Not again! Is this a joke?".The characters in a Disney cartoon have more depth and hues than the ones we find here. Lieutenant Franken?? My goodness, his villain smiles and his acting deserve to be nominated among the worst of the decade. The arch villains in Batman (the 60s TV series by Adam West) make more complex characters.The twists and turns in the plot, which should have contributed to create tension and suspense, are so serendipitous, stretched out and poorly presented that they make you laugh or cover your face in embarrassment: "Is this Saturday Night Live and I have missed the initial credits?".In short, although I was very well predisposed to enjoy this movie when it started, I couldn't have been more disappointed.

In 1956 Israel, Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten) remembers his war years in Holland starting in Sept 1944. When an allied bomber accidentally destroyed her hiding place, she tries to escape to liberated territories. The escaping Jews get caught and massacred but Rachel survives. She is rescued by the resistance and gets into dangerous operations. Eventually she infiltrates the Nazi world.Director Paul Verhoeven is bringing Nazis, Holocaust, and resistance fully into erotic violent pulp territories. It is unabashed in its noir thriller mentality. There is something oddly unreal about it. The last act has a few too many unnecessary twists, but it's nevertheless compelling and exciting.

Conquerors have often had the tendency to beautify, glorify their contribution and the events towards victories. This has brought along hundreds of films where dramatic events have been dealt with black-and- white manner. Zwartboek is a pleasant exception which shows life in harsh and uncertain circumstances in a realistic manner, with "good" and "bad" people and actions in both sides. The plot is solid and intense, has several twists and turns, catchy action scenes and dramatic moments. The value is enhanced by filming in real locations (joy of recognition; however, it increased the budget a lot) and the use of both Dutch and German actors, thus the original languages were spoken during the film. The cast is very strong and with character actors mainly, beginning with Carice van Houten as Rachel Stein / Ellis de Vries and Sebastian Koch as Ludwig Müntze - both internationally famous European actors. Highly recommended to those fond of versatile war films with strong feelings and dynamic events. It is no wonder that, in 2008, the Dutch public voted it the best Dutch film ever.