Verhoeven: The winter king
by Annika Pham
It’s showtime for Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven. His acclaimed WWII drama Black Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile], released today in 90 cinemas through Tartan Distribution, is the European film event of the day, covering the walls of London tubes and outdoor sites and getting largely positive media coverage. This is much needed media support considering the tough competition from US fare such as Babel, Rocky Balboa, Infamous and The Return, also opening today.
Black Book is an exceptionally big release for independent distributor Tartan Films, who pre-bought the film at the script stage. One of its biggest releases in 2006 was the UK/Australian co-production The Proposition, which took £0.57m from 118 screens at the UK box office. Exceptional P&A support was provided by the UK Film Council, which awarded £250,000 towards the film’s release last December, the biggest amount ever allocated since the creation of its P&A Fund in 2003.
To build word of mouth, Tartan organised several previews with leading newspapers The Times and the Evening Standard. The advertising campaign included TV ads, extensive advertising in the Underground and on billboards, and a big national press campaign. Some London-based Dutch organisations and companies, including the Dutch Tourist Board and KLM, also took part in the film’s promotion.
The publicity campaign started last October, when Black Book premiered in the UK as part of the London Film Festival, and media interest in the film has been sustained with its nomination for a Bafta and its selection this week among the nine foreign language films shortlisted for an Oscar nomination.
The release of Black Book has also been used by London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) as an opportunity to host a retrospective on the Dutch filmmaker entitled Verhoeven: Dutch Master. Following a special preview of the wartime thriller last Sunday, six films that made up the first phase of Verhoeven’s career from, Business is Business (1971) to The Fourth Man (1983), will screen at the ICA until January 25.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
