Israel 1956. Rachel, a Jew, rather unexpectedly meets an old friend at the kibbutz where is she working as a teacher. It brings back memories of her experiences in The Netherlands during the war, memories of betrayal. September 1944. Rachel is in trouble when her hiding place is bombed by allied troops. She gets in contact with a man from the resistance and joins a group of Jews who are to be smuggled across the Biesbosch by boat to the freed South Netherlands. Germans from a patrol boat murder them all however. Only Rachel is able to escape. She is rescued by a resistance group under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers. When Kuipers’ son is captured after trying to smuggle weapons, he asks Rachel to seduce SS-hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze. Soon she will find out the attack in the Biesbosch wasn’t a coincidence. —IMDb
Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969 he directed the popular Dutch TV series Floris (1969), about a medieval knight. This featured actor Rutger Hauer who has appeared in many of Verhoeven’s later films. Verhoeven’s first feature, Wat zien ik (1971) (trans. What do I See?), was released in 1971. However it was his second, Turks fruit (1973), with its combination of raw sexuality and a poignant story line, that gained him great popularity in the Netherlands, especially with male audiences. When his films, especially Soldaat van Oranje (1977) and De vierde man (1983), received international recognition, Verhoeven moved to the US. His first US film was Flesh & Blood (1985), 1985, but it was RoboCop (1987) and especially Total Recall… read more
Incredibly fluid filmmaking, with a great script, really strong performances and lavish cinematography. Loved it.
Man this movie did not pussyfoot around. It didn't shy away from any of the terrors it portrayed nor feel exploitative.
After a controversial but generally successful time in Hollywood, Verhoeven returned to his native country for his first Dutch movie in over twenty years. It's a World War II drama about a Jewish woman, played by the beautiful and talented van Houten, who acts as an undercover agent for the Resistance after the brutal murder of her family. On the whole it's a triumph; a tremendous piece of old-fashioned storytelling.
"When I started making movies, there were 'movies' movies. Now 'movies' seems to be commercials, music videos, images off the Internet, there
Film yang berdasarkan kisah nyata mengenai buku yang berisi daftar orang-orang Yahudi Belanda kaya yang dikhianati kemudian dibunuh dan diambil hartanya. Daripada film sejenis seperti The Schindler’s… read review
two words sum up my feelings about this movie: BEST ACTRESS. Carice Van Houten rocks it like no one else i’ve seen in a long while. there is so much energy in her portrayal of rachel that, as we were… read review