Review of Black Book (2006) by Chads. — 17 May 2007

"Black Book" is a handsomely mounted, very entertaining thriller about...the holocaust, which is slightly better than a life-affirming comedy("Life is Beautiful") about the holocaust, I guess.

Ellis(Carice van Houten) is unlike any protagonist we've ever seen in a film about Jews during the war, because she never seems sufficiently devastated about the plight of her people, even her family.

Ellis' greatest outpouring of emotion is for a Kraut. In her former incarnation, as Rachel, a German plane bombs the home of her Christian safekeepers, and she never seems at all perturbed about their sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice these people paid for hiding her from the camps.

They were Dutch, I believe. After the war, Ellis is branded as a collaborator for the Nazis. This is when "Black Book" goes over-the-top with the tears and action. She's punished twice, if you're perceptive enough to see what happens to her as such.

In a key scene, meant to elicit sympathy for Ellis, vengeful millitary officials dump a vat of feces on the hapless Jew, who you're supposed to feel sorry for her. But this woman is no Anne Frank.

You can make the argument that this retribution by the Dutch people(which is directed at her for allegedly setting a trap for the revolutionaries), is actually an act of incidental vigilantism for that Christian family she never feels any remorse for.

There were small children who burned up in that household. She's punished again for crying over Muntz(Sebastian Koch). I'm not really sure what this filmmaker is trying to say, but "Black Book" is undeniably fun to watch, even though it's about one of the darkest chapters in human civilization.