Black Book Blu-ray - Carice van Houten

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Black Book" )

directed by Paul Verhoeven
Netherlands / Belgium / UK / Germany 2006

Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven made his name in Hollywood with films such as ROBOCOP, BASIC INSTINCT, and STARSHIP TROOPERS. But Verhoeven got his start in the industry by making films (the acclaimed SPETTERS and SOLDIER OF ORANGE among them) in his native country, and it's to Holland that he returns for BLACK BOOK--his first Dutch film in 20 years. The story is set during the final days of World War II in Holland, and follows a Jewish singer named Rachel Stein (Carice Van Houten). Rachel attempts to avoid the Nazis and remains in quiet hiding until her family is brutally slain, causing her to join up with a resistance movement. On a subsequent undercover mission, Rachel crosses paths with a smitten German general named Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch), with whom Rachel begins a relationship in order to feed vital information back to her colleagues in the resistance. But as the action and bloodshed escalate, Rachel realises that she has genuine feelings for Muntze, and soon she is in enormous danger. Verhoeven's film is wildly ambitious and takes many intriguing twists and turns during its 146 minutes. BLACK BOOK commanded the largest budget of any film to be produced in Holland, and it shows. Explosions litter the screen, plenty of car chases ensue, and wince-inducing injuries and deaths propel the action. The director isn't afraid to criticise his fellow countrymen and inserts a fascinating subtext about the actions of the resistance fighters, asking some uncomfortable questions about the similarities between their behavior and that of the Nazis. Van Houten lights up the screen throughout and is surely destined for bigger things, and while the tumultuous experiences her character undergoes might push the boundaries of reality at times, Verhoeven has pointed out in interviews that Rachel is a composite character who encompasses the merged experiences of many real people from the era.

***

If anything should be said about Paul Verhoeven, then it should be that he has no sense of restraint or moderation. He often throws away caution in regards to plot logic and goes over the top with something outrageous out of place, followed by turkey punch-one-liners. On one side, that was what made “RoboCop” so great, and on the other, what made “Showgirls” – and “Basic Instinct” - so stupendous bad. Strange though, as his earlier Dutch films like “Soldaat van Oranje” and “De Vierde Man” were very good films.

It’s been six years since the horrible “Hollow Man”, and now Verhoeven has returned to Holland and made the most expensive Dutch film ever, “Zwartboek”, based on real events, which were uncovered while he researched “Soldaat van Oranje”, reuniting him with Gerard Soeteman, the writer for the majority of his previous Dutch films.

The story deals with the Jew Rachel Stein (Carice von Houten), who becomes the blond Aryan Ellis de Vries to go undercover for the resistance, after she escaped a massacre. Not only does she work for the Nazis, she falls in love with SS officer Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch).

While it on the paper looks like a winner, “Zwartboek” comes close to what can be described as Anna Frank meets Showgirls. It is, for most of the plot, a pulp romance story about a very naïve yet strong-minded Jewish woman who falls in love with an idealistic and good-hearted Nazi officer, full of sudden, often cliff-hanger often action, plot twists and one-liners as good as those in “Showgirls”. It has it all, drama, sex, action, sex, betrayal, sex and of course nudity by von Houten.

To demonstrate: Ellis (aka the blond Aryan Rachel) has to go work for Nazis. She is asked how far she is willing to go, and her mind doesn’t fall upon killing, but sex. “You mean sleep with him?... I will go as far as he wants to go!” Next we see her dye her pubic hear blond (in close up), which leads to her having sex with one of her resistance partners.

Several scenes are superfluous and appear more like present in order to show nudity, and action sequences almost come from the blue sky, breaking the pace, as if the script said “Insert action here”. Admitted, sex and action are central elements to both the story of Rachel / Ellis and the resistance, but there should be a point in showing it, and it should then carry and strengthen the plot. In “Zwartboek” it does not, but often feels like being out of sync with the plot, displayed for its own sake.

Mind you, “Zwartboek” looks beautiful and has some superb scenes, but overall the film comes off as wanting to go in too many directions, wanting too much, and thereby forgets itself. It feels like too desperate an attempt by Verhoeven to regain a position as a good director, while he at the same time continues to display no self-control in doing what he did in Hollywood. And while there is a beautiful sense of fatalism in having Ellis sing “Das ist meine Melodie, nachder Ich singen muss.” (that is my melody, according to which I have to sing), Verhoeven needs to learn a new “melody” according to which he has to direct.

Henrik Sylow

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Theatrical Release: September 14th, 2006 (Netherlands)

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Comparison:

Tartan - Region 0 - PAL vs. Palisades Tartan Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. 101 Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the DVD Review!

Box Cover			Also on Blu-ray from Sony in Region 'A':
Distribution	Tartan Region 0 - PAL	Tartan Region FREE - Blu-ray	101 Films Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:19:36 (4% PAL speedup)	2:25:29.679	2:25:26.551
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.11 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,304,124,984 bytes Feature: 32,430,968,832 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,243,318,922 bytes Feature: 32,430,968,832 bytes Video Bitrate: 20.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Tartan Blu-ray
Bitrate 101 Films Blu-ray
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital Dutch/German, 5.1 Dolby Digital Duthc/German, DTS Dutch/German	DTS-HD Master Audio Dutch 2250 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2250 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Dolby Digital Audio Dutch 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Dolby Digital Audio Dutch 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps	LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit DTS-HD Master Audio English 2107 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2107 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	English, None	English, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Paul Verhoeven Interview (12:36) • Carice van Houten interview (21:52) • Original Theatrical Trailer (2:19) DVD Release Date: April 30, 2007 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Tartan 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,304,124,984 bytes Feature: 32,430,968,832 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Paul Verhoeven Interview (12:36) • Carice van Houten interview (21:52) • Original Theatrical Trailer (2:19) Blu-ray Release Date: November 2nd, 2009 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: 101 Films 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,243,318,922 bytes Feature: 32,430,968,832 bytes Video Bitrate: 20.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • The Book of Verhoeven: Paul Verhoeven on Black Book (27:49) • Diary of a Cinematographer: Karl Walter Lindenlaub on Black Book (20:03) • Limited Edition Booklet: Includes Return to the Homefront: Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book by Shelagh Rowan-Legg, and Black Book and Robocops: Scoring the Films of Paul Verhoeven by Charlie Brigden • Interview with Carice van Houten (2006) (22:46) • Interview with Paul Verhoeven (2006) (13:06) • Original theatrical trailer (02:22) DVD Blu-ray Release Date: August 20th, 2018 Standard Blu-ray case (see below) Chapters 8

Comments:

ADDITION: 101 Films Blu-ray - August 2018: 101 films bring us Paul Verhoeven's epic, "Black Book" on a dual-layered Blu-ray. The 1080p image is shown in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and has a supportive bitrate. This is definitely a step up over the Palisades Tartan Blu-ray disc. The image has deeper blacks, with better contrast. Colors also seem to pop a little more, thanks to the added contrast. Some grain is evident throughout, which gives the picture a film-like texture. Detail is excellent, which the screenshots can attest to.

The film is presented in DTS-HD (16-bit) 5.1 surround. There is also another Linear PCM 2.0 16-bit stereo track. The surround separation is great, creating quite the tension during various scenes. Bullets seem to whiz right by you. The score by Anne Dudley (The Crying Game, American History X, Elle, Tristan + Isolde) sounds great here, reminding me of Bernard Herrmann's work with Hitchcock. There are optional English subtitles on this Blu-ray.

101 films (and 441 Films) have provided some brand new extras here. First is a great 28-minute interview with Verhoeven. The director talks about the experience of making this film, and how it differed from his Hollywood blockbusters. Next up is a 13-minute chat with cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub on shooting Black Book. This is another great interview. The old extras are carried over here, those being the 2006 interviews with Verhoeven and star Carice van Houten. The film's trailer is also included. There is also a limited edition booklet that included "Return to the Homefront: Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book" by Shelagh Rowan-Legg, and "Black Book and Robocops: Scoring the Films of Paul Verhoeven" by Charlie Brigden. Included a second disc DVD.

Black Book is an underappreciated film from the provocative Verhoeven. Thankfully 101 films have given the film a great transfer, and have included some worthwhile extras. Highly recommended to fans of Verhoeven and WWII/Spy thrillers. Fair warning though, this IS a Verhoeven movie, so this is for mature viewers.

Colin Zavitz

***

The new Palisades Tartan Blu-ray is on HMV exclusive for 3 months. I haven't had good experiences ordering internationally from HMV and suggest waiting if you are in the same boat - requiring overseas delivery.

The improvement one sees over the corresponding Tartan DVD will be directly proportional to the size of the screen you are reviewing it on. The Blu-ray is dual-layered, with a nice sheen of grain and even has some depth in a few spots. Detail is tighter but colors look about the same for the most part. Audio takes a more dramatic leap and while not always the best separation in the DTS-master 5.1 - does have some subtleties that support the film well.

It appears to be the same extras - Paul Verhoeven and Carice van Houten Interviews (where she mentions her tits) for about 1/2 hour and the original Theatrical Trailer - but each viewable in a small box inside the Extras Menu screen.

Great film - I suggest seeing this if you have not. It's a very impacting war film.

Gary W. Tooze

ON THE TARTAN DVD: A beautiful transfer. Rich details, deep blacks, strong colors. No visible artifacts.

Sound comes in the usual for Tartan: 2.0 / 5.1 / DTS, where the DTS is superb. The soundstage is rich, good separation and use of rears. The only thing I could wish for is a deeper and fuller bass.

The additional material is adequate: Two interviews, one with Verhoeven, who talks in detail about the story behind the story of the film, the other with von Houten, who talks about her character and working with Verhoeven.

- Henrik Sylow