Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Wow! Who could have imagined that one of the best war-time thrillers of the last fifty years would be made by the man who brought us the comic-book violence of TOTAL RECALL and STARSHIP TROOPERS? Yes, Dutch director Paul Verhoeven is the man behind this story of the Dutch resistance in WWII, and it's his best work since STARSHIP TROOPERS. It's also an atypical outing for the director more at home with blood and guts and OTT action and a throwback to his films of old like SOLDIER OF ORANGE. This is an old-fashioned thriller with a bit of everything thrown in for audiences – romance, action, suspense, thrills, drama, human emotion. It's a film detailing the human condition and at its heart it contains an absolutely fantastic performance from a virtually unknown Dutch actress, Carice van Houten, who looks like Naomi Watts but is about a million times better as an actress.The film details the constant struggle for power and supremacy between the Dutch resistance and the Nazis in the dying days of WWII. What I loved most about the plot was the constant twists and turns and surprises at every stage. I was trying to second-guess this film at some instances but it never worked, because I could never figure out what was going to happen next. Even the ending is a great surprise. There's a conspirator at work behind the scenes, a real traitor, but figuring out his or her identity is nigh on impossible. Great scriptwriting like this doesn't come along every day! The cast is uniformly excellent, particularly Sebastian Koch as the sympathetic Nazi officer. Attention to detail is spot on and you come away feeling that the research has been 100%. The film's budget is up on screen to see and all of the old cars and uniforms look amazing. Even the special effects don't disappoint. Verhoeven can't resist throwing in some of his trademark violence, here in the form of shoot-outs and the like, and even some fairly explicit sex and nudity a la BASIC INSTINCT. But in the end, BLACK BOOK transcends all of its parts to become a thoroughly engaging and excellent war epic.

I came across this film by chance and made a note to myself to watch it. I'm grateful for that decision because the 'Black Book' is a must-see. It connects with all your emotions; it really digs deep. Most important of all, it takes you on a journey of an exciting story which you do not have to relate to to understand. I have not yet credited the actors or Verhoeven and so I must applaud their efforts. The story is fantastic but it was the actors that really brought it to life and the strongest performance for me was from Carice van Houten. I have researched how long Verhoeven worked on this film for-over 15 years! It definitely showed and his film was gripping from the opening scene. I do like (not love) war films, but you do not have to like war films to enjoy this. This has a slightly different focus that I believe to be more to do with human values. I would recommend this film especially to anyone that loves action, drama and history: you'll be in for a treat.

I came across Black Book after reading somewhere that after his post Robocop and Basic Instinct decline into absurdity, Black Book marked a glorious return to form for Paul Verhoeven, And needing a DVD to watch and coming across Black Book at £3 in an Asda (the UK's Wall-Mart) bargain bin, I thought 'why not?'Well, I should, perhaps, also have asked myself just what a movie - the most expensive Dutch movie ever made, no less - was doing languishing in the bargain bins less than 10 months after its release. I suspect you know where this is going. I had, in fact, only ever seen Robocop of Verhoeven's earlier films and had rather liked it's satirical touches, although on reflection it hadn't quite been the satire I had thought it to have been. Black Book made me ask myself: when we watch a movie, exactly what is it we want? Simple entertainment or something greater? Well, often, of course, it's simple entertainment.Despite all the 'auteurs' and the 'homage' we 'serious' film fans are supposed to pay 'auteurs', there also has to be time out when we can set aside the quest to investigate the human condition for an hour or two, grab the popcorn and settle down to watch a little undemanding nonsense. And why not? Yet when a movie chooses to deal with what was one of the most shocking and tragic periods of recent European history and which, furthermore, directly acknowledges the most horrific aspect of that time, the wholesale slaughter of millions of Jews, quite apart from also touching upon such ultra-sensitive areas as the degree and methods of the Dutch resistance and the collaboration of other Dutch with the Nazis, including the betrayal of fellow citizens for venal gain, it is surely fair to expect that movie to rise a little above the status and ambitions of 'undemanding nonsense'.But, to his shame, Paul Verhoeven never even tries to. He is quite content to churn out a large-scale potboiler, and one, furthermore, whose script is surprisingly lazily put together for a movie with this kind of budget and apparent aims. It would be tedious and boring for both you, the reader, and me, the writer, to list the script's many, many flaws and inconsistencies. I'll simply remark that Verhoeven and his co-writer were not in the slightest concerned with producing a truthful and honest tale. All they wanted to do was to make sure 'the action' roared ahead at breakneck speed and that you and I were given no opportunity at all to question the plot's many twists and turns. So: if 'undemanding nonsense' is your thing, packaged with a spurious mystery and a little, tho' not much, trademark Verhoeven soft porn, this is the film for you, available at your nearest supermarket bargain bin.If, given Black Book's painful and tragic subject matter, you want a movie which takes both you and itself seriously, forget it.

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.