Tuesday

I decided to try something new today. Before going to see Black Book I wrote a review of what I was expecting. Here it is: 'a tense, fast-paced drama, more overtly intellectual that his previous movies, an attempt to be Polanski, dealing with issues of nationalism and loyality, a woman stuck in-between these concepts, perhaps eventually dying for her perceived betrayal, a good film, maybe a little empty, glossy in the 1950s style rather than gritty like a modern war film, nothing special with the music or the cinematography.'

How accurate was I? Not wanting to blow my own trumpet, or hoist my own petard, I was pretty accurate. A problem is that it's too fast paced. You don't get time to settle into a situation before it's suddenly uprooted. You don't get to know the main character, who she is and what she stands for. She never really makes any choices by which you can identify her. She doesn't suddenly discover anything, or change her opinions. She's quite a blank cell in the middle of this film. As such, it hints toward a deeper meaning, but doesn't give itself the time to develop anything. Everything is rushed through to the end. We've seen Nazis being cruel before, so there's not much new there. The interest is in the vindictiveness of the Dutch after the war, but that's not dwelt on for very long. I did enjoy this film, but I was left wanting more.

I saw the movie at the original Curzon in Mayfair. It's now my new favourite cinema - art-deco style (I think) from 1936, the interior is great with its low ceilings and wooden panels, and the auditorium itself was very comfortable and warm (which helped today).