THE BLACK BOOK (2006)
Noir action melodrama telling the story of a German Jewish woman in WWII who dyes her hair blonde to pass for a German and avoid Nazi capture. She joins the resistance against the Nazis and goes undercover to seduce high-ranking Nazi generals into giving her information. But the Nazi lover she’s supposed to be betraying turns out to be not as evil as one would expect. In a war that’s supposed to be simple good vs. evil. she finds herself in a complicated situation in which justice is impossible.
This is the sexiest WWII movie. It’s fun and action-packed and full of noir-ish twists and turns. But it’s also meaningful with beautiful politics. We find empathy for unlikely characters; the Nazis are treated as complicated, real people. We see humanity at its best and worst here, sometimes in the same character having weak and cowardly moments and then heroic ones.
