Black Book (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Black Book | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Paul Verhoeven |
| Produced by | Jeroen Beker San Fu Maltha Frans van Gestel Jos van der Linden |
| Written by | Gerard Soeteman Paul Verhoeven |
| Starring | Carice van Houten Sebastian Koch Thom Hoffman Halina Reijn |
| Music by | Anne Dudley |
| Cinematography | Karl Walter Lindenlaub |
| Editing by | Job ter Burg James Herbert |
| Distributed by | A-Film |
| Release date(s) | September 14, 2006 (NL) April 6, 2007 (USA) World Premiere: September 1, 2006 (Venice Film Festival) |
| Running time | 135 min. |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Language | Dutch, English, German, Hebrew |
| Budget | €17,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Black Book (Dutch: Zwartboek) is a 2006 thriller war film by director Paul Verhoeven, starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, and Halina Reijn. The story is about a young Jewish woman in the Netherlands trying to survive at the end of World War II. The film had its world premiere on September 1, 2006 at the Venice Film Festival and its public release on September 14, 2006 in the Netherlands.
The press in the Netherlands was divided about the film, but with three Golden Calves Black Book was the most awarded film at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2006. The international press responded positively to the film and especially to the performance of actress Carice van Houten. It was the Dutch submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007, but the film was not nominated.
At the time of its release, it was the most expensive Dutch film ever made, and commercially the most successful Dutch film ever. Black Book was the Dutch film with the highest box office gross in 2006. By January 12, 2007 1,000,000 people had seen the film.
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[edit] Plot
The film tells the story of Rachel Steinn (Carice van Houten) at the end of the Second World War. She is a Jewish singer who used to live in Berlin before the war and who is now hiding from the Nazi regime in the occupied Netherlands. She meets members of the Dutch resistance Gerben Kuipers (Derek de Lint) and Hans Akkermans (Thom Hoffman), and the German SD officers Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch) and Günther Franken (Waldemar Kobus), and she becomes friends with her Dutch colleague Ronnie (Halina Reijn).
In 1944, the young Jewish woman Rachel Steinn tries to flee by boat, together with her family and other Jews, from the Nazi-occupied part of the Netherlands to the liberated southern part of the country. However, they are attacked by the Germans. Rachel is the only survivor, but she does not manage to escape from the occupied territory. Later it turns out that such trips are arranged by Dutch traitors in cooperation with German officer Günther Franken, for the purpose of stealing the property of the refugees.
Rachel joins a resistance group, and starts to use the alias Ellis de Vries. She befriends the German SD officer Ludwig Müntze, and she is even offered a job in the SD office in The Hague. She manages to bug Müntze's office, but she also falls in love with him. Compared to other German officers Müntze is not as bad to the Dutch. At one time he refuses to obey the rule to kill 40 innocent Dutch citizens to avenge a killing of a Dutch traitor by the resistance group. For this Müntze is imprisoned and sentenced to death.
Some members of the resistance group are imprisoned. Rachel is only willing to participate in a rescue attempt if they free Müntze too, and reluctantly the other members of the resistance group agree. However, the attempt fails and most prisoners and rescuers are killed.
Rachel is captured and imprisoned by the Nazis. They have discovered the bug and use it to make the resistance group believe she has worked for the Germans and has betrayed the resistance. In particular the resistance group suspects her to be responsible for the failure of the rescue operation. Together with Ludwig Müntze she escapes and they hide in the countryside.
When the country is liberated, Rachel is imprisoned as a traitor by the Dutch, and Müntze is executed by the Germans. The physician Hans Akkermans, who supposedly was in the resistance movement, was actually involved in devastatingly ending the refugee trips, thus enriching himself. He tries to kill Rachel with a large dose of insulin, which she survives by eating a bar of chocolate as an antidote.
Rachel proves her innocence to Gerben Kuipers with a black book of names of traitors. Together they lock Hans Akkermans in his coffin that he filled with stolen money and jewels. When they seal the coffin, he is killed by suffocation.
A flashforward at the start of the film, continued at the end of the film, shows Rachel living in the fifties in Israel, with a husband and children. She is visited by wartime friend and colleague at the SD office Ronnie. Ronnie is a woman who copes with each situation by acquiescing. During the war she worked for the Germans, had sex with them, accepted stolen gifts from them. After the war she befriended and married a Canadian liberator.
An idyllic scene of Rachel and her family is cruelly distorted when explosions are heard in the distance, an air raid siren goes off, and soldiers take positions at the front of the kibbutz. It is October 1956, and the Suez Crisis has started.
[edit] Cast
- Carice van Houten as Rachel Steinn alias Ellis de Vries
- Sebastian Koch as Ludwig Müntze
- Thom Hoffman as Hans Akkermans
- Halina Reijn as Ronnie
- Waldemar Kobus as Günther Franken
- Derek de Lint as Gerben Kuipers
- Christian Berkel as general Käutner, superior of Günther Franken and Ludwig Müntze in the Sicherheitsdienst
- Dolf de Vries as Mr. Smaal, notary that keeps the black book
- Peter Blok as Mr. Van Gein, police man that betrays the people that try to cross
- Michiel Huisman as Rob, sailor that helps Rachel Steinn
- Ronald Armbrust as Tim Kuipers, son of Gerben Kuipers and member of the resistance group
- Frank Lammers as Kees, member of the resistance group
- Matthias Schoenaerts as Joop, member of the resistance group
- Johnny de Mol as Theo, convinced Christian and member of the resistance group
- Xander Straat as Maarten, member of the resistance group
[edit] Production
[edit] Writing
After 20 years of film making in the United States, Paul Verhoeven returned to his homeland, the Netherlands, for the making of Black Book. The story for the film was written by Verhoeven and the screenwriter Gerard Soeteman, with whom he made successful films such as Turkish Delight (1973) and Soldier of Orange (1977). The two men had been working on the script for fifteen years,[1] but they only solved their problems with the story in the early 2000s, by changing the main character from male to female. According to Paul Verhoeven Black Book was born out of elements that did not fit in any of his earlier movies, and it can be seen as a supplement to his earlier film about World War II Soldier of Orange.[2]
Verhoeven has emphasized that the story does not show an obvious moral contrast between characters:
| “ | In this movie, everything has a shade of grey. There are no people who are completely good and no people who are completely bad. It's like life. It's not very Hollywoodian.[3] | ” |
Black Book is not a true story, unlike Soldier of Orange, but Verhoeven states that many of the events are true.[4] Like in the film, the German headquarters were in The Hague. In 1944 many Jews that tried to 'cross' (Dutch: crossen) to liberated parts of the southern Netherlands, were entrapped by Dutch policemen. As in the film, crossing attempts took place in the Biesbosch.[2] The events in the story are also related to the life of Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven was born in 1938 and he grew up in The Hague during the Second World War.[5]
[edit] Financing
The initial estimate of the budget for making Black Book was €12,000,000. According to film producer Rob Houwer, who worked with Paul Verhoeven on previous films, it was not possible to get the job done for that amount of money. San Fu Maltha produced the film together with three other producers. He tried to economize on different parts such as the scenes in Israel, that could have been left out without changing the plot, but this was not negotiable for Paul Verhoeven.[1]
Because of financing problems the filming did not start as planned in 2004 but was delayed until August 2005.[6][7] In this month it was announced that Black Book received about €2,000,000 support from the Publieke omroep, the CoBO Fund, and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.[8] There were also several foreign investors, which made the film a Belgian, British, and German coproduction. With a final estimated budget of €17,000,000 the film is the most expensive Dutch film ever, at the time of its release.[1]
In October 2006 twelve crew members and businessmen started a lawsuit in which they demanded the bankruptcy of Zwartboek Productie B.V., the legal entity founded for the film. Some of them were already waiting for more than a year to get their money, in total tens of thousands of euros. Production company Fu Works settled the case and promised to pay the creditors.[9]
[edit] Filming
The shooting of the film was delayed in 2004 due to financial problems[6] and Paul Verhoeven's health issues.[10] Because of the delay there was a lawsuit regarding lead actress Carice van Houten, who had agreed to act in a play. When van Houten was forced to return to the set, the theater company sued over the costly delay to their own production. The outcome of the lawsuit was that the production company had to pay €60,000 for her unavailability.[11]
The shooting of the film was from August 24 until December 19, 2005[12] on locations in the Netherlands, among which Hardenberg, Giethoorn, and The Hague, and in Israel. In the opening scene a real pre-war farm was blown up in the municipality Hardenberg. The farm was already declared uninhabitable and ready to be demolished.[13] Some under water explosions are filmed in a lake near Giethoorn.[14] In the centre of The Hague they build bunkers to cover up modern day objects such as the entrance of an underground parking garage.[15] Great attention to detail was paid in the film. Several requisites (stage props) were reproduced from the 1940s, such as signs, posters and the black book itself.[16] Furthermore, in one of the liberation scenes in The Hague, as many as 1100 or 1200 extras have a role.[17]
During the shooting the general public was able to see making of scenes on their mobile phones or on the internet.[18]
[edit] Media based on the film
[edit] Novelization
The screenplay by Paul Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman was turned into a thriller novel by Dutch writer Laurens Abbink Spaink. The book was published in September 2006 by Uitgeverij Podium, and contains photos and an afterword by Paul Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman. Laurens Abbink Spaink says about the book: "Black Book is a literary thriller. Its form is in between the typical American novelization, only describing what the camera sees, and a literary novel. The novelization adds something to the film. I gave Rachel Stein a past, memories and a house. In the film she did not have a personal space."[19]
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was released on October 2, 2006 by Milan Records. The album contains four 1930s-1940s songs sung by actress Carice van Houten, as she also performed them as Rachel Steinn in the film. Three of them are in German, one in English. The other tracks of the film score are written by Anne Dudley. The album is recorded in London and produced by Roger Dudley.[20]
[edit] Reception
[edit] Premieres and festivals
Black Book had its world premiere on September 1, 2006 in Venice, as part of the official selection of the Venice International Film Festival.[21] The film was also in the official selection of the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.
HRH The Prince of Orange and his wife HRH Princess Máxima attended the Dutch gala premiere of Black Book in The Hague on September 12, 2006. Other prominent guests at the premiere were mayor Wim Deetman, minister Hans Hoogervorst, minister Karla Peijs, and Medy van der Laan.[22]
The United States premiere of Black Book was a gala screening at Palm Springs High School on January 5, 2007 during the Palm Springs International Film Festival.[23] On March 2, 2007, Black Book will be the opening film of the Miami International Film Festival.[24]
[edit] Critics
The Dutch press was divided about the film. Dana Linsen writes in NRC Handelsblad: "In Black Book, Verhoeven does not choose for moral discourse but for a human measure and he has given new colour to his work with the non-cynical approach of his female lead and with love."[25] Belinda van de Graaf in Trouw writes: "Without breath we run along burning farms, ugly resistance fighters, pretty kraut whores, spies, traitors, and because the story has to go on the coincidences pile up until it makes you laugh. If Carice van Houten screams 'Will it never stop, then!' it is almost kitsch, and not surprisingly already a classic film quote."[26] She compares this film to Soldier of Orange and explains why this film is not a stereotypical war film: "The war adventure is no longer based on the male character of the type Rutger Hauer, with his machismo and testosteron, but the small fighter Carice van Houten".[26] Literary critic Jessica Durlacher, daughter of an Auschwitz survivor, describes the film in Vrij Nederland with the following comparison: "The reality of 1940-1945 as portrayed in Black Book compared to reality is like the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas compared to the original in Paris."[27]
The international press wrote positively about the film and specifically about the performance of Carice van Houten.[28] According to Jason Solomons in The Observer: "Black Book is great fun, an old-fashioned war movie in parts, but with deep undercurrents about fugitive Jews, the Resistance, collaborators and the messy politics of war. This being Verhoeven, there's lots of sex and a scene in which the extremely attractive star (Carice van Houten) dyes her pubic hair blond. That aside, hers is a star-making performance, putting even Scarlett [Johansson] in the shade."[29] In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Dirk Schümer says Carice van Houten is not only more beautiful, but also a better actress than Scarlett Johansson. Furthermore he writes in his review: "Europe's Hollywood can actually be better than the original. With his basic instinct sharpened in California, Verhoeven demonstrates here the cinema as a medium of individual tragedy."[30] Jacques Mandelbaum writes in his review in Le Monde: "This lesson about humanity and about fear can be situated in the wake of several rare masterpieces, that are solemny confronted by this story"[31] where he compares Black Book with classics like The Great Dictator, To Be or Not to Be, and Monsieur Klein.
[edit] Commercial success
Before the film was released, the rights for distribution had been sold to the distributors of 52 countries.[32] According to the production company Fu Works these sales make the film Black Book commercially the most successful Dutch film production ever, at the time of its release.[33]
Black Book received a Golden Film (100,000 tickets sold) within a record breaking three days[34] and a Platinum Film (400,000 tickets sold) within three weeks after the Dutch premiere.[35] The film had its millionth visitor on January 12, 2007.[36]
Black Book had the highest box office gross for a Dutch film in 2006, and over all in 2006 coming third in the Netherlands after American films Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and The Da Vinci Code.[37] As of 2006-12-31 the box office gross in the Netherlands was €6,953,118.[38]
[edit] Awards
Black Book was nominated for a Golden Lion at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival and won the Young Cinema Award for best international film.[39]
The film was nominated for four Golden Calves at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2006. It won in three categories: the Golden Calf for Best Actress (Carice van Houten), for Best Director (Paul Verhoeven), and for Best Film (San Fu Maltha). Black Book was the most awarded film of the 2006 festival.[40]
Black Book was the Dutch submission for the Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.[41] The film also appeared on the shortlist of nine films, but was not amongst the five films nominated for the Oscar.[42]
[edit] List of nominations and awards
- Nomination Golden Lion (2006)[21]
- Young Cinema Award for Best International Film (2006)[21]
- Golden Film for 100,000 visitors in the Netherlands (2006)[34]
- Platinum Film for 400,000 visitors in the Netherlands (2006)[35]
- Golden Onion for Worst Actor (2006) for Johnny de Mol[43]
- Nomination Golden Calf for Best Supporting Actress (2006) for Halina Reijn[44]
- Golden Calf for Best Actress (2006) for Carice van Houten[40]
- Golden Calf for Best Director (2006) for Paul Verhoeven[40]
- Golden Calf for Best Film (2006) for San Fu Maltha[40]
- Nomination London Film Critics' Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year (2006)[45]
- The Hague Public Award 2006 for contributing to a positive image of The Hague[46]
- Nomination British Academy Film Award for Best Film Not In The English Language (2007)[47]
- Diamond Film for 1,000,000 visitors in the Netherlands (2007)[48]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Berkhout, Karel, Blokker, Bas. "Kan niet bestaat niet", NRC Handelsblad, 2006-09-08. Retrieved on October 7, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ a b De Wereld Draait Door - Paul Verhoeven talks about the film, September 7, 2006
- ^ Homeward bound in The Guardian
- ^ "The events are true, the story is not.", translated quote of Paul Verhoeven from 'Zwartboek' heeft geen ruimte voor subtiliteit in NRC Handelsblad.
- ^ Een beetje oorlog, best spannend
- ^ a b Opnames Verhoevens Zwartboek uitgesteld. Filmfocus.nl (2004-10-14). Retrieved on October 7, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Shooting Paul Verhoevens Black Book will start end of August. Fu Works. Retrieved on October 7, 2006.
- ^ "Zwartboek en Alles is Liefde krijgen financiële steun", De Telegraaf, 2005-08-30. Retrieved on December 4, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ "Faillissement Zwartboek afgewend na schikking", De Telegraaf, 2006-10-27. Retrieved on December 4, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ "Paul Verhoeven ziek, opnamen Zwartboek uitgesteld", De Telegraaf, 2004-10-27. Retrieved on December 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ "'Zwartboek' moet betalen", De Telegraaf, 2006-02-03. Retrieved on December 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Business Data for Zwartboek. The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on December 4, 2006.
- ^ "Verhoeven mag boerderij in Hardenberg opblazen", Algemeen Dagblad, 2005-10-25. Retrieved on December 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ "Verhoeven krijgt toestemming voor explosies", Trouw, 2005-09-24. Retrieved on December 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Photocapy (2005-11-13). Entrance to a parking garage disguised as a bunker. Flickr. Retrieved on December 5, 2006.
- ^ Hoffman, Thom. De Wereld Draait Door [talkshow]. Netherlands: VARA.
- ^ "Acteur Thom Hoffman laat mensen Zwartboek beleven", Dagblad van het Noorden, 2006-05-04. Retrieved on December 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Fu Works (2005-11-01). Opnames Zwartboek via Vodafone op mobiel. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
- ^ Van Baars, Laura. "De ‘verboeking’ van Zwartboek", NRC Handelsblad, 2006-09-15. Retrieved on January 10, 2007. (in Dutch)
- ^ De Bruijn, Joep. Review. www.geocities.com/filmscorevisions. Filmscore visions. Retrieved on January 7, 2007.
- ^ a b c Stigter, Bianca. "'Zwartboek' heeft geen ruimte voor subtiliteit", NRC Handelsblad, 2006-06-02. Retrieved on December 2, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ "Zwartboek beleeft Nederlandse première", De Telegraaf, 2006-09-12. Retrieved on December 4, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Black Book. Palm Springs International Film Festival. Retrieved on January 8, 2007.
- ^ Miami International Film Festival (2007-01-10). Miami International Film Festival Announces 2007 Film Program. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-13.
- ^ Linssen, Dana. "'Zwartboek' walst grijs verleden uit", NRC Handelsblad, 2006-09-13. Retrieved on October 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ a b Graaf, Belinda van de. "Carice van Houten als kleine krachtpatser in Verhoevens ’Zwartboek’", Trouw, 2006-09-14. Retrieved on December 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Durlacher, Jessica (2006-09-16). Zwartboek liegt. Vrij Nederland (url is not the original source) . Retrieved on October 7, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Stigter, Bianca. "Carice van Houten slaat in als een bom", NRC Handelsblad, 2006-09-04. Retrieved on October 7, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Solomons, Jason. "Water, water everywhere - and a flood of tears", The Observer, 2006-09-03. Retrieved on October 7, 2006.
- ^ Schümer, Dirk. "Basisinstinkt: Paul Verhoevens „Schwarzbuch“ in Venedig", Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2006-09-01. Retrieved on October 7, 2006. (in German)
- ^ Mandelbaum, Jacques. ""Black Book": Paul Verhoeven brouille les pistes du bien et du mal", Le Monde, 2006-11-28. Retrieved on December 1, 2006. (in French)
- ^ Official website.
- ^ "Zwartboek nu al succesvolste Nederlandse film ooit", De Telegraaf, 2006-08-21. Retrieved on December 2, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ a b Zwartboek bekroond met de Gouden Film (2006-09-18). Retrieved on October 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ a b Zwartboek bekroond met de Platina Film tijdens Gala van de Nederlandse Film. Retrieved on October 5, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ "Zwartboek passeert de 1 miljoen bezoekers", De Telegraaf, 2007-10-12. Retrieved on January 14, 2007. (in Dutch)
- ^ Goodfellow, Melanie. "Verhoeven leads Dutch resistance", Variety.com, 2006-12-22. Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
- ^ $9,125,272 = €6,953,118. Netherlands Box Office. December 28–31, 2006. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on January 6, 2006.
- ^ Awards for Zwartboek. The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on December 4, 2006.
- ^ a b c d "Zwartbroek grote winnaar Film Festival", NOS News, 2006-10-06. Retrieved on October 6, 2006. (in Dutch)
- ^ Black Book official entry from the Netherlands for Best Foreign Language film. Retrieved on October 5, 2006.
- ^ "Acht Oscarnominaties voor Dreamgirls", NRC Handelsblad, 2007-01-23. Retrieved on January 23, 2007. (in Dutch)
- ^ En de winnaars zijn.... www.degoudenui.nl. Retrieved on January 12, 2007. (Dutch)
- ^ A-film oogst 27 Gouden Kalf nominaties. www.a-film.nl. A-Film (2006-10-04). Retrieved on January 7, 2007. (Dutch)
- ^ NSPCC (2006-12-18). Dames get ready to do battle at film critics' awards. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-12-25.
- ^ "Zwartboek wint Haagse publieksprijs", De Telegraaf, 2006-12-29. Retrieved on January 11, 2007. (in Dutch)
- ^ This year's nominees. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
- ^ Nederlands Film Festival (2007-01-29). Eerste Diamanten Film voor Zwartboek. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
[edit] External links
- Official US website
- Official website (Dutch)
- Trailer (Dutch)
- Zwartboek at the Internet Movie Database
- Black Book at All Movie Guide
- Black Book at Rotten Tomatoes
[edit] Images
- Images of film set, September 18, 2005
- Images of film set, November 14, 2005
- Images of film set, November 16, 2005
[edit] Film reviews
- Review by Derek Elley of Variety
- Review by Dirk Schümer of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)
- Review by Boyd van Hoeij of european-films.net
- Review by Jason Solomons of The Observer
- Review by Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter
- Review by Dana Linssen of NRC Handelsblad (Dutch)
- Review by Jacques Mandelbaum of Le Monde (French)
- Review by Colin Bell of Mansized.co.uk
Business Is Business • Turkish Delight • Katie Tippel • Soldier of Orange • All Things Pass • Spetters • The Fourth Man • Flesh & Blood • RoboCop • Total Recall • Basic Instinct • Showgirls • Starship Troopers • Hollow Man • Black Book • Kneeling on a Bed of Violets
