Photo by Jaap Vrenegoor/Sony Picture Classics
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connected in a strong way with the
reality of life;' he said in a telephone
interview.
It is a reality that is difficult to for-
get. "I was 7 when the war ended, and
I particularly remember the last two
or three years:' recalled Verhoeven.
The worst time was the winter of
1944-45.
"My father would get on his bike
with wooden tires — because there
was no rubber — to go out to the
countryside to see if he could get a
couple of potatoes. I remember the joy
when he came back with a little bit of
sausage, dancing around the table."
The Verhoevens lived less than two
blocks away from V-1 and V-2 launch-
ing pads. Allied bombs fell extremely
close by. Whenever the Resistance
launched a successful attack, the Nazis
lined civilians up against a wall and
shot them in reprisal. "We were forced
to walk among these dead people on
the ground. All these memories are
very distinct and strong."
Verhoeven was born in Amsterdam
but moved to The Hague when his
father, an elementary school head-
master, got a position there.
"No, I didn't have any Jewish friends
growing up. There weren't any living
on my street. There was an older cou-
ple living a few houses down. I knew
they were Jewish because of the Stars
of David they wore on their jackets. I
remember that. And I remember that
they disappeared."
The film is fiction, but based on
fact. Rachel Stein, the Resistance spy,
is a composite of three women, none
of whom survived the
war. Muntz, too, is based
on a real German officer.
The film's realism
extends to the dialogue.
Everyone — the Dutch,
Germans, Canadians
— speaks in his or her
native language. But
there are a few moments
that will strike Jewish
viewers as especially
true-to-life. At one point
in the film the Resistance
is betrayed. Cleverly, the
Nazis make it seem as
though Stein was the
leak. Immediately, the
surviving Resistance
fighters voice their anti-
Semitism. "What did you
expect from that Jew?"
"This kind of latent anti-Semitism
that came to the surface in the
Holocaust has been present in medi-
eval times and even longer:' said
Verhoeven, who realized that this
would be a powerful scene. "Even in
highly regarded Resistance groups, it's
still there, under the surface!'
The film opens on a kibbutz, where
Rachel Stein, now married and a
teacher, lives. The kibbutz is visited
by a group of Christian tourists, one
of them a friend of Rachel's back in
Holland, a woman who offered herself
to the Nazis. Their brief visit rekindles
Stein's memories, and the rest of
the film is a flashback to 1944-45
Netherlands.
Until the last scene, when Stein has
to rush back behind the walls of the
kibbutz. It's 1956, and the Arabs are
attacking again. Verhoeven said he
clearly intended the symbolism, the
constant, never-ending struggle of the
Jewish people.
"I think it would have been overly
optimistic if the film ended with her
having found a new life, married, a
teacher of children," said Verhoeven.
"That would be a Hollywood ending.
But life is more complicated than
that." I
Black Book screens at the
Detroit Film Theatre in the
Detroit Institute of Arts 7 p.m.
Friday and Saturday and 4 and
7 p.m. Sunday, April 20-22.
Tickets are $5-$7.50. (313) 833-
3237 or www.dia.org/dft/
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51