Survival and greed mix in a war-torn Holland

Black Book is Dutch director Paul Verhoeven's testimony to courage and revenge in late 1944 and early 1945 in Den Haag in the Netherlands. It is the first film that he has made in Holland since Soldier of Orange (1979), a story of the heroic Dutch Resistance. Verhoeven, now 70, has been caught up in Hollywood and the production of movies like Total Recall (1990), Basic Instinct (1991) and Showgirls (1995).

Black Book begins in October 1956 in Israel and the prologue and epilogue occur there. A Holy Tours bus visits the Kibbutz Stein and on it are Ronnie (Halina Reijn) and her Canadian husband (Skip Goeree). She finds Rachel Stein (Carice Van Houten) teaching school and they recognise each other from the past. Rachel's memory shaken - she walks to the Dead Sea, and there events from 12 years ago unfold.