Zwartboek (English title: Black Book) has the privilege of being the first Dutch Paul Verhoeven film since 1983. Verhoeven not only directed, but also co-wrote (with Gerard Soeteman) the WWII story of a young Jewish woman who joins the Dutch resistance, tries to expose a traitor, and falls in love. Although a Dutch production, Zwartboek is not a Dutch film. It aims for a bigger audience.

Paul Verhoeven has a typical and very recognisable style. Just as (for instance) most John Sebastian Bach or Nirvana compositions can be recognised as such, most Verhoeven-films are easily discernable. Zwartboek too, features many of the Verhoeven-trade marks: strong women, functional violence, realistic nudity and the grand gesture he does so well. Verhoeven is a very talented filmmaker, who is not always understood (it is my profound belief that time will expose Starship Troopers for the satirical masterpiece it truly is). Most Verhoeven-films need more than one viewing to flourish to their full capacity. Zwartboek is no exception.

Because of the Verhoeven-grand gesture, some of the execution of Zwartboek suffers. Zwartboek is clearly made for a non-Dutch audience and that means that some of the imagery is reduced to cliché, particularly when seen by Dutch eyes. Dutch people apparently frolic and skip continuously when relieved (at being liberated for instance), the Dutch resistance was a well-oiled machine (as if!), some of the characters are one-dimensional (Bad German! No cookie!) and the “who’s the bad guy”-part of the plot is easily seen through. So is Zwartboek a bad film? HELL NO! Zwartboek is a flawed film, for sure, but if you are prepared to look beyond the verboseness, you’ll find a beautiful little movie, a character piece extraordinaire at the centre of all the shooting and shouting.

The script of Zwartboek has been 20 years in the making, Verhoeven worked on it on and off during this period. But even with that long of an incubation period, the script is not the strong point of the movie. Zwartboek works almost in spite of it, and not because of it, particularly where the thriller part of the plot is concerned. This makes the Zwartboek runtime about 30 minutes too long. But the social comments Verhoeven has placed; about violence, about love, about the nature of survival, are beautiful.

And that is what makes Zwartboek special. A director who can be circumlocutory, even pompous, at times, Verhoeven triumphs with this intimate portrayal, a personal story full of nuance and depth. In the Zwartboek-world (much like the real world of today) Christian charity is not charitable at all, one country’s freedom fighters are the other country’s terrorists, pragmatism and prejudice take over from doctrine and ideals (but do not always win), appearances can both deceive and be irrelevant, and nobody, ever, knows what they will and will not do to survive.

Verhoeven (much like yours truly) enjoys the presence of strong women in his films, and Carice van Houten as his leading actress gives him everything a director could want from an actor. This is also true for the other principal actors in Zwartboek: Sebastian Koch, Halina Reijn and Thom Hoffman. Particularly Hoffman is a joy to watch. This actor has now turned to photography and only sporadically appears in movies. Every time he does, I am reminded of what a pity that is. Not very many actors have his naturalistic preciseness. He makes a difficult job look easy.

If Van Houten can keep her off-screen personality in check (she comes of as more than a bit of a pretentious brat in the interviews I have seen), she should have a bright international future ahead of her. Van Houten has been given a well-earned Dutch award for her role of Ellis de Vries/Rachel Rosenthal. Her character’s determination and courage never waver, but she still manages to inject vulnerability, doubt and sexiness into her on-screen persona. And, much to my delight, features in a Verhoeven-pun on the famous no-undies moment in Basic Instinct. Verhoeven is reported to have said he could not have made Zwartboek without Van Houten. This is absolutely true, her contribution is vital to the final atmosphere of the movie, but the work of Koch, Reijn and Hoffman should not be underestimated.

To summarize: Zwartboek is a beautiful gem that is packed away in a big loud box. A gem well worth digging for.

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