7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
After narrowly escaping death, young Rachel Rosenthal becomes part of the Jewish resistance, assuming the name Ellis de Vries. Her superiors order her to seduce a Gestapo officer named Ludwig. Ellis is successful in her mission but soon finds herself falling in love with her mortal enemy.
Starring: Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn, Waldemar Kobus, Carice van HoutenDrama | 100% |
War | 99% |
Foreign | 85% |
Period | 39% |
Epic | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Dutch: LPCM 5.1
Dutch: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Hindi
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Straightforward stories about the Holocaust are enough of a challenge to make into motion pictures. The films must maintain an appropriate level of sensitivity and historical accuracy while taking enough artistic license to produce a work that will adequately impact viewers and inspire them to learn the lessons of how genocide and anti-semitism blot out humanity. Films like The Pianist and Schindler's List are controversial and shocking--and those are among the most critically acclaimed movies based on events from the Holocaust. They frame the story in the proper historical and emotional context.
Despite her defenseless predicament in Nazi-occupied Western Europe, Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten) is portrayed as a promiscuous opportunist who makes no pretense of seducing a nazi commander, captain Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch).
It would seem fitting if the technical merits of Black Book are as disappointing as its story and
direction. But the picture throughout the film is absolutely reference quality. Impeccably shot and
produced in lifelike color, the depth, detail and overall presence of the imagery is nothing short of
stunning. From skin tones to black level, from the vivid green of the Dutch countryside to the deep
red of the nazi banners and flags, the MPEG-4 codec provides ample evidence that BD-50 is the
ultimate reference format.
Watch the night scene when Rachel is briefly reunited with her family. Even in the dark, there is
ample contrast and no digital artifacts--just the gentle hint of grain. Blu-ray is like film reels for the
masses.
Like the video quality, Black Book's audio was phenomenal. The soundstage was solid and cohesive. Sounds eminated from between speakers, showcasing the superb audio engineering that underlies the uncompressed PCM 5.1 surround mix. Note that the PCM track is in the original Dutch and viewers who speak English will rely on subtitles. But the sound of the voices reveals clues essential to following the story. One feature I enjoy of BDs like this that showcase superb audio engineering is that the sounds appear to come unstuck from the speakers. The LFE and surround channels are used sparingly, but effects like car and plane engines, gunfire and explosions are disarming in their realism and palpability.
Both the BD and DVD of Black Book were released simultaneously and contain the same features. Frankly, Verhoeven's audio commentary was outright nauseating as he, like his film, ignored the delicate, sensitive nature of the plot and boasted instead about making Black Book and technical production matters. Vehoeven is joined by various cast in the "Making Of" special. But I cannot recommend this supplementary material as it seems silly to discuss what attracted the principles to the . To cap it off, it's in standard definition and it doesn't include a 13-minute interview with Verhoeven and a 22-minute feature with van Houten, which, along with a 4-page booklet, were included in the European release. That's ok. Few afficianodos will count themselves big enough fans of this film to warrant such material.
Black Book came highly recommended and I looked forward to reviewing it. I realize that others will enjoy the film and not have a negative reaction to it, but this just makes me more strongly resent the story and the way the characters were portrayed. Lately, in popular culture, it has become fashionable to find a way to make everyone morally equivalent; to make all viewpoints ethically equal and to report them without emotion. Journalists and now filmmakers seem to have hit upon this moral equivalency in telling their stories. But when the story is the plight of Jews in Nazi- occupied Europe, there is no room for moral equivalency. And therefore there ought to be no reason to make a film showing a promiscuous Jewish woman sleeping with an admirable nazi commander and double-crossed by a nazi collaborator in the resistance. While such a story may be based on a true story, the truth is not fully represented in Black Book. Not by any stretch
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