Black Book ****

Zwartboek

Titties! Explosions! Paul Verhoeven is bringing sleazy back ...

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Writers: Paul Verhoeven, Gerard Soeteman

Stars: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman

If you were thinking of making a film about the Dutch Resistance of World War Two, and you had a number of resumes in front of you, Paul Verhoeven's would probably be the least impressive. Showgirls, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers are all there, but class and nuance are not. Of course, no one said the Second World War was classy (see Cabaret for further information). This film plays hard and fast with history, borrows from every resistance film in the book (if Hollywood is to be believed, the entire French population was covertly fighting the Germans, as opposed to the 2% who actually were), and is out to shock and awe with full-frontal nudity and big-budget explosions. Like a 50's hooker, it's crass, glossy and knows all the tricks.

So why bother? Because it's fun! Because history doesn't have to be boring. And because despite the sensationalism of it all, it does have a good basis in facts and Van Houten and Koch are attractive and capable.

Koch is handsome and charismatic, up next in The Lives Of Others, winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar over my beloved, Pan's Labyrinth. Van Houten is a real find, rolling with the punches, landing on her feet and somehow still finding time to develop character. She doesn't need to speak: her eyes say it all. It's classic goodies-versus-baddies and there's an extraordinarily high body count by the end (well, there is a war on) but you can't help but enjoy it. It's fast-paced and possibly unhealthy, but steers clear of playing too dumb. And it's high time we had a war movie with a sense of humour.

In Conclusion: It's not subtle, but it is clever, and if it's rude adrenalin you're after, give it a go. Just don't make the mistake of equating subtitles with understated elegance.