The Black Book

Last night I went along with friends to see the monthly Spiel (prounounced Schpeel for Non-Jewish readers). This monthly get together was hosted by film critic Jason Solomons and these panel guests, culture commentator Hadley Freeman, actor Henry Goodman, restaurant critic and novelist Jay Raynor and comedian Helen Lederer. Topics for discussion included the films For Your Consideration and Black Book, and West End drama Underneath The Lintel.

The other week, I went to see the Black Book and here's a synopsis of the film. It stars the beautiful Carice van Houten.

After more than 20 years of Hollywood filmmaking and a string of successful action and genre films, Paul Verhoeven returns to the Netherlands and a more personal story, albeit one which is told on an epic scale. Based on true events, Black Book is set during the final months of the Second World War when the Netherlands was split in half by occupying Axis forces. Rachel Steinn, a beautiful and independent young Jewish woman is separated from her parents and brother and forced into hiding. Trying to flee to Allied territory, she is reunited with her family, but sees them murdered by a Nazi patrol. Suspecting they have been double crossed, Rachel joins the Resistance and sets out to discover who has betrayed them. Adopting a new identity as the blonde Ellis de Vries, in no time she is using her womanly charms to infiltrate the ranks of senior German officers. But the real enemies are not necessarily the most obvious ones, as Ellis is soon to discover. Plot twists, subterfuge and deceit make for great drama, and Verhoeven ratchets up the tension to make this a gripping saga, lavishly told.