by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
Paul Verhoeven is better known in America for his high-profile movies like Basic Instinct and Total Recall. However, Verhoeven wrote and directed this WWII scenario in Dutch and German as his tour de force work in 2006. It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
The complex period drama involves a stunningly beautiful Jewish Dutch woman, Rachel/Ellis (Dutch ingenue Carice van Houten) who joins the Dutch resistence during the later stages of WWII. When she meets a high-ranking German officer Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch) and he likes her, she is recruited to infiltrate the Nazi high command as a spy for the resistance. Her job is to plant a microphone in Muntze’s office so the resistance can overhear the Nazi plans.
Her only problem is that she falls love with Muntze, which greatly complicates her mission. The premise is based on a series of betrayals and double-crosses that keep the viewer guessing as to where this powerful intrigue scenario is headed.
Ellis is caught in the middle of a dangerous game by Dutch and German greed mongers who are using the war to get rich by selling out Dutch-Jewish immigrants, killing them, and taking their valuables. Meanwhile, Muntze sees that the war is lost and negotiates with the resistence fighters rather than having them executed. This compassionate act pits him against the Gestapo, and at one point, he and Ellis are persona non grata.
Verhoeven uses the raging world war as a backdrop for this forbidden love story as recalled by Ellis in 1956 at a kibbutz that she founded. Of course, the war between the Palestinians and the Israelis is still raging outside the protected fence of the kibbutz. Here Verhoeven is saying that war is part of the human condition. In 1956, Ellis is happily married with children, but she still agonizes over her past during WWII as the story evolves in flashback.
As Ellis learns, she can’t trust anyone in the Nazi high command. Ellis is setup to make it seem like she betrayed her colleagues in the resistence. So, she is hunted by the Germans and the resistence. Her only salvation is to work to expose the traitors operating inside the resistence. But, this proves to be a difficult, if not impossible, task.
As a clever technique, Verhoeven uses the fog of war to ratchet up the suspense and tension as Ellis becomes trapped inside the Nazi command center. Meanwhile, Muntze locks horns with the Gestapo over the resistance captives. The whole caper is about to explode in Ellis’ face. Her only friend is another young woman who is working for the Nazis as a entertainer and courtesan.
Just when the viewer thinks they have this complicated scenario figured out, another twist happens and the story goes off on a tangent. The war, Nazis, and the dense intrigue make this film engrossing and exciting as Ellis escapes one deadly situation after another. She is obviously blessed with an inherent ability to get herself out of dangerous situations, but her time is running out. He friends turn out to be her enemies and she can trust no one.
Remarkably, Verhoeven managed to avoid the typical WWII movie cliches, yet he includes American-styled action sequences. Full frontal nudity is common in this picture, including Van Houten’s breasts, which seem to be exposed more than covered up. She’s gorgeous and alluring, the perfect sex trap for luring her Nazi commander into her web of espionage. He can’t resist her even when he suspects that she may be a spy. As the story builds momentum to its finale, Ellis and Muntze turn to each other for support. They reach a point they can’t trust anyone but each other. But in this scenario, never assume Ellis and Muntze are out of danger. There are many shocking surprises right up until the end.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
