DIRECTED BY: GABRIELE MUCCINO

STARRING: CARICE VAN HOUTEN, SEBASTIAN KOCH, HALINA REIJN.

Released at Cinemas: January 19th

Paul Verhoeven spent 20 years honing his art in Hollywood, directing action thrillers like 'Robocop', 'Starship Troopers' and the lascivious 'Basic Instinct'. Now he’s returned to his native Holland to bring us this complex wartime tale of collaboration, betrayal and retribution. 'Black Book' covers the final months of WW2 as we follow the fate of Rachel Steinn, a strikingly beautiful Jewish woman (van Houten) forced into hiding who then witnesses the murder of her whole family. To unmask the traitors, Rachel assumes a blonde bombshell persona, joins the Resistance and works at Nazi HQ. Verhoeven brings all his Hollywood experience to bear, negotiating the complex twists and turns of a cracking script. We identify wholeheartedly with Rachel’s quest for the truth, which leads her to make unlikely allegiances and take thrilling risks. Verhoeven's recreation of wartime Holland always rings true, this movie is after all based on actual events, and Verhoeven only introduces explicit sexual scenes and quickfire humour when they enhance the plot.