A commentary on the film Black Book***

I watched the movie Black Book this evening and it got me to thinking about the rhetoric of war. This is Dutch film made in 2006 about a female spy with the Dutch Resistance during WWII. The most interesting part for me was in the English subtitles to the German dialogue. I wish I spoke German so I could be sure it was an accurate translation! In any case, the Nazis always referred to the Resistance as "terrorists." Although this movie is by no means supposed to be from a Nazi German point of view, it did make me think about how the "other side" often thinks the same thing about the "good guys" as we think about the "bad guys." Everyone thinks they are on the "right" side to some extent.

Even more interesting was one of the main German characters, Muntze, who was a high ranking Nazi official who was one of the most compassionate characters. I know it seems strange to think of "Nazi" and "compassionate" in the same sentence but Muntze (who I think is fictional but I'm not sure) spoke out against worthless executions of Resistance prisoners and actually tried to negotiate with the Resistance to stop killings on both sides (the movie takes place towards the end of the war from 1944-1945 so the smart Germans knew it was just a matter of time before they lost). Muntze was given a death sentence by higher ranking SS men under the accusation of "negotiating with terrorists." I do not think the writer's words were chosen lightly. It seems that every time I hear Bush or his posse speak about the war in Iraq, it is something about "we will not negotiate with terrorists." It is an "us" vs. "them" mentality. This does not condone the actions on either side of these wars - either the Nazis or Al Quaida. However, as I have ranted about in Religion Major terms before, more needs to be done to understand the other side in order to eventually negotiate peace. And I do think that peace in the Middle East needs to be a negotiation. Yes terrorism is horrible and by no means should be condoned. However, there are a lot of other people in the Middle East who are not terrorists who would REALLY like to live life without the fears of suicide bombers or civilian casualties of American and other international "peace-keeping" occupying militaries.

Black Book was a very well made and fascinating movie but I would caution you that it contains a lot of graphic nudity and violence, often at the same time. However, it is good sometimes to be reminded about what WAR is really like and how many lives are affected by even a few violent deaths. The performances were all amazing, especially the lead actress Carice van Houten, who played the Jewish protagonist Rachel Stein who goes undercover for the Resistance by becoming Muntze's lover. The only flaws in the plot were probably too many characters with not enough exposition to keep them straight. However, the main characters like Rachel Stein and Muntze were incredibly deep and they really humanized the brutal story in a way that made many of the outcomes heartbreaking. It is because of the strong performances and characters that I actually finished watching this long movie without even multi-tasking like I usually do! I sat and watched straight through and cried quite a few times. So if you like history and want to see a Dutch take on WWII, go out and rent Black Book.


***I do promise that I will post my already written review of Juno soon but since it is now one of my favorite movies, I want to edit it to make sure it does justice to the amazing movie.