![]() I have loved them all with a passion ever since I was a small child. There are no more exciting themes for me in movies than tragic romance, espionage and escape. While evolving into a brave spy, she must learn how to reconcile her own personal vendettas and her surprising romantic feelings for Müntze. From deep within the Nazi camp, she is able to strategically plant a microphone and to use tidbits of acquired knowledge in order to provide the Resistance with vital information and plans. She uses a quick wit, a gorgeous voice, some feminine charms and a collection of Queen Wilhelmina stamps to crawl her way into the arms of Herr Müntze (Sebastian Koch). Via cunning and fortunate circumstance, she manages to transform herself into Ellis de Vries, a blond bombshell who infiltrates the German command in the area. Rachel is crossed and doubled-crossed and triple-crossed, eventually winding up as a member of the famed Resistance. This is truly a definitive epic, in every cinematic sense of the word. ![]() And my goodness, there are a tons of them. So much of this film relies on surprises and shocking twists that it would be unfair of me to detail too many plot threads. Rachel is immediately on the run, aided by her new sailor friend. However, one day, while flirting with a young man sailing on the nearby lake, her safe zone is destroyed in one fell swoop by a low flying bomber. ![]() She, like many Jews at that time, were surviving by any means necessary in order to outlast the Nazi tyranny. So back we travel, to occupied Holland, circa 1944, and we see a more youthful Rachel, diligently practicing a bible passage in order to earn a meal from the family who is hiding her from the Germans. The meeting brings back painful wartime memories and Rachel heads to a quiet place by the river to recollect our central story. The film begins in 1956 with Rachel Steinn, a school teacher at an Israeli kibbutz, being accidentally found by an old acquaintance, who is on vacation with her husband. ![]() One gets the feeling that the ghosts of Gregory Peck, Hedy Lamarr, Ava Gardner, Spencer Tracy & Jean Harlow are embodying the cast of this classic espionage drama. The lush visuals, orchestral music, European styling, wartime romanticism and cliffhanging chapters all add a certain 1950's charm to the white-knuckle plot. I use the old-fashioned term, yarn, because "Black Book" is very much a film that feels like it was made decades ago. I never would have guessed that Paul Verhoeven (Yes, the Paul Verhoeven who directed "Total Recall", "Basic Instinct" & "Showgirls"!!!) would challenge them both with a gripping, edge-of-your-seat World War II yarn. Last week, I replaced the Scorsese epic with Sofia Coppola's luscious biopic of "Marie Antoinette". Who said that they don't make films like they used to? A couple of weeks ago, I declared that "The Departed" was the best film of 2006. ![]()
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