Carice van Houten Movies
Born September 5, 1976, in the Netherlands, actress Carice van Houten worked steadily in her native country on both the small and big screens, garnering a number of nominations for her work. She first started to acquire international fame as the star of Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, portraying Rachel Stein, a Jewish woman who disguises herself and uses her allure and beauty in order to manipulate the Nazis in charge of the occupation of Holland. The exposure from her work in that film served as a springboard for van Houten, and she was soon appearing prominantly in high-profile Hollywood pictures, such as Bryan Singer's WWII drama Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise; the sci-fi film Repossession Mambo, as the wife of Jude Law's character, and and the biographical drama Vivaldi, starring Joseph Fiennes as the classical composer. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
At the absolute height of World War II, German generals hatch a daring plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler and effectively render the German war machine impotent. Directed by Bryan Singer, Valkyrie stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the real-life mastermind behind the elaborate plot known as Project Valkyrie: a plan to assassinate Hitler and overthrow his government from the inside. Stauffenberg has been a loyal soldier and an asset to the Reich for his entire military career, but after losing an eye, a hand, and three fingers in an Allied bombing, he reaches a breaking point. The destructive madness that his country is unleashing on the world has become too terrible for the colonel to stand silent. He joins the resistance movement -- a treasonous act, punishable by death -- and risks his life and the life of his family for the chance to change history. Comprised of high-ranking officials working in secret, the German Resistance has access to the inner workings of the government and military, putting them in the perfect position to dispatch the dictator and then use his own official contingency plan to seize power -- before the army, the S.S., and loyal party members can put someone just as diabolical in the Führer's place. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, (more)
A small war between science and religion is waged over the fate of a mentally ill teen in this thriller from writer and director Agnes Merlet. Jane Morton (Carice van Houten) is a psychotherapist who has been summoned to a small island community off the coast of Ireland to investigate a case of a profoundly disturbed young woman. Dorothy Mills (Jenn Murray) is a teenager who strangled a young girl outside a church for no apparent reason; she's being kept in the village hospital, where she displays a broad variety of bizarre and violent behavior. Jane soon diagnoses Dorothy as suffering from multiple personality disorder and attempts to sort out the various anti-social identities that battle for control of her mind. But Pastor Ross (Gary Lewis), head of the local church, has a different view of Dorothy's problem -- he's convinced Dorothy has been possessed by the devil, and he believes an exorcism is the cure, not therapy. A number of Ross's parishioners share his views and don't want Jane imposing her big-city ways on them, even as the doctor is getting to the roots of Dorothy's problems. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carice van Houten, Jenn Murray, (more)
- 2008
A youthful pastor hired in as the music master at a school for the abandoned and illegitimate daughters of Venice nightwalkers forms a powerful bond with the children that eventually leads him to perform before the pope in director Boris Damast's screen biography of Four Seasons composer Antonio Vivaldi. Jacqueline Bisset, Malcolm McDowell, and Carice van Houten star in a film featuring Joseph Fiennes as the acclaimed violinist and Baroque composer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Fiennes, Lena Headey, (more)
Filmmaker Paul Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands after more than twenty years of success in Hollywood to direct this epic-scale war drama based on a true story. Rachel Steinn (Carice van Houten) is a beautiful Jewish woman living in German-occupied Holland during late 1944. Her family members - who have been falsely promised safe passage to Belgium (their names recorded in the 'black book' of the title) are instead robbed and slaughtered by the Germans on a premeditated basis; Rachel herself manages to escape by diving into the water and swimming away. She narrowly avoids capture, then joins the local resistance movement. With her hair dyed blonde, Rachel can easily pass for Aryan, and when the leader of the Dutch resistance movement learns his son has been captured by Axis forces, Rachel is asked to use her feminine charms to persuade a German commander to arrange for the boy's release. Rachel soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous double life as she becomes a sexual plaything for the Nazis while attempting to bring down their evil empire as a spy. Zwartboek was written by Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman, who collaborated on the 1977 international success Soldier of Orange. Zwartboek received its world premier at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, (more)
