Black Book (2006)

 

Black Book is a Dutch historical drama which premiered in 2006. The topic is the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War Two and the Dutch resistance movement which fought against the German forces.

 

Here is some basic information about this drama:

 

** Original Dutch title: Zwartboek

** Director: Paul Verhoeven

** Writers: Paul Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman

** Languages spoken: mostly Dutch and German; sometimes English or Hebrew

** Run time: 145 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

** Carice van Houten as Rachel Stein (aka Ellis de Vries) – Dutch resistance

** Derek de Lint as Gerben Kuipers – Dutch resistance

** Thom Hoffman as Hans Akkermans – a Dutch doctor

** Dolf de Vries as Wim Smaal – a Dutch lawyer

** Waldemar Kobus as Günther Franken – a German officer (lieutenant)

** Sebastian Koch as Ludwig Müntze – a German officer (captain)

** Christian Berkel as Käutner – a German officer (lieutenant general) (no first name)

** Halina Reijn as Ronnie – a Dutch secretary (no last name)

 

This drama is not based on a true story. It is inspired by several true events and characters. What does this mean? I assume this means the story is not a fantasy; it is supposed to be realistic.

 

I think most of what we see in this drama is realistic, although there are some scenes where the desire for historical accuracy has been sacrificed in favour of the desire for dramatic and spectacular effects; this happens in particular towards the end of the drama.

 

I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. Therefore I am not going to say much about the plot which runs from 1944 to 1945. If you wish to know what happens in this movie, you will have to watch it.

 

What about the title? Why is it called the Black Book? I am not going to tell you. The answer to the question is given towards the end of the movie. Watch the movie all the way to the end and you will find the answer.

 

What do reviewers say about this historical drama? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

 

71 per cent = Meta

77 per cent = IMDb

87 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the general audience)

75 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the professional critics)

 

As you can see, the ratings are good but not great. The average rating is around 80 per cent, which corresponds to four stars on Amazon.

 

If you ask me, this level is very appropriate. To prove my point, I will mention one detail which I regard as positive and one detail which I regard as negative:

 

THE POSITIVE

Several languages are spoken in this drama. The Dutch speak Dutch among each other, as they should, while the Germans speak German among each other, as they should. When a Dutch person and a German person must communicate with each other, they will usually speak German.

 

This is realistic. This gives the drama a high degree of historical authenticity.

 

THE NEGATIVE

In the drama, the members of the Dutch resistance group has an office where they all meet quite often. In this office they seem to have all their secret documents and all their weapons. This is not realistic.

 

An experienced resistance group would never have all their secrets and all their members in one location. This was far too dangerous. If the Germans are tipped off about this location, they will be able to catch the whole group in one swift operation.

 

A real resistance group would never operate like this. They would use different hiding places and they would not meet each other all the time at the same location.

 

Having many members of a resistance group meeting at the same location again and again is a clear violation of historical accuracy.

 

CONCLUSION

This drama is good, but not great. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 per cent).

 

PS # 1. The drama opens and closes with a brief moment which is set in Israel in 1956. This means the main story about the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Dutch resistance movement is sandwiched between an introduction and an epilogue which is set eleven years after the end of World War Two. Why?

 

I am not sure why this is done. I do not regard this as a good idea or a bad idea. I regard it as irrelevant. I do not think it serves a great purpose. I think the main story about what happens in the Netherlands 1944-1945 is good enough to stand on its own. It does not need to be framed by two brief moments which are set in another country more than ten years after the end of the war.

 

PS # 2. The history of the Netherlands during and shortly after World War Two is the subject of several historical dramas. Here are some examples:

 

** Riphagen (2016)

** A Real Vermeer (2016)

** The Resistance Banker (2018)

 

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A Dutch poster for the movie

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