Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven (IPA: [pʌul vɛrhuvən]) (born July 18, 1938 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch film director, scenarist, and film producer. He filmed in both the Netherlands and the United States. Explicitly violent and sexual content are trademarks of both his drama and science fiction films. He is best known for directing the American feature films RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Basic Instinct (1992), and Starship Troopers (1997).

Turkish Delight (1973) received the award for Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival.^[2] His films altogether received a total of 9 Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects. Both RoboCop and Total Recall won an Academy Special Achievement Award. In contrast, his film Showgirls (1995) was poorly received and won 7 Golden Raspberry Awards, but has become a cult film over time.

Early life

Childhood

Paul Verhoeven was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, son of school teacher Wim Verhoeven and hat maker Nel van Schaardenburg. Although born in Amsterdam, the family lived in the village of Slikkerveer.

On May 10, 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands, the start of World War II for the Netherlands, which lead to the bombing of Rotterdam on May 14.

In 1943 the family moved to The Hague, the location of the German headquarters in the Netherlands. The house of Verhoeven was near a German military base with V1 and V2-rocket launchers, which was repeatedly bombed by allied forces. The house of their neighbour was hit and also his parents were almost killed when bombs fell on a street crossing. From this period, Verhoeven mentioned in interviews, he remembers images of violence, burning houses, dead bodies on the street and continuous danger. As a small child he experienced the war as if it was an exciting adventure and he compares himself with the character Bill Rowan in Hope and Glory (1987).^[3]

His father Wim Verhoeven became head teacher on the Van Heutszschool in The Hague and Paul Verhoeven attended this school. Sometimes they watched informative films at home with the school's film projector. Paul Verhoeven and his father also liked to see American films, that were in the cinema after the liberation, such as The Crimson Pirate (1952). They went as many as ten times to see The War of the Worlds (1953). Paul Verhoeven was a fan of the Dutch comic Dick Bos, where the character Dick Bos is a private detective who fights crime using Jujutsu. Verhoeven himself liked comic drawing and created The Killer, a grey character in a detailed story full of revenge. Other fiction he liked were Frankenstein and Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series.^[3]

He went to the public secondary school Gymnasium Haganum in The Hague. After this he studied from 1955 at the University of Leiden, where he joined the students' corps. He graduated with a Ph.D. in mathematics and physics.^[4]

Career in filming

Verhoeven made his first film A Lizzard Too Much for the anniversary of his students' corps in 1960.^[5] In his last years at university he also attended classes at the Netherlands Film Academy. After this he made three more short films Nothing Special (1961), De Lifters (1962) and Let's Have a Party (1963).

After his studies he entered the Dutch Navy as a conscript. He made the documentary The Royal Dutch Marine Corps (1965) about the Navy, which won the French Golden Sun award for military propaganda films^[3].

When he left the Navy, he took his skills into Dutch television. First he made a documentary about Anton Mussert named Mussert (1968). His first major success was the 1969 Floris television series, starring Rutger Hauer. The concept of Floris was inspired by foreign series like Ivanhoe and Thierry La Fronde.

In 1967 he married Martine Tours, with whom he has two daughters: Claudia (1972) and Helen (1974).

Feature films

The Netherlands

Paul Verhoeven's first feature film Business Is Business was released in 1971 and was not especially well received. His first national success did not come until 1973 with Turkish Delight, starring Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven. This film is based on a novel by bestselling Dutch author Jan Wolkers and tells a passionate love story of an artist and a liberal young girl from a rather conservative background. The film got an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1974. In 1999 the film received a Golden Calf for Best Dutch Film of the Century. Verhoeven's 1975 film Katie Tippel was again featuring Hauer and van de Ven, but it would not match the success of Turkish Delight.

Verhoeven built on his reputation and had an international success with his Golden Globe nominated film Soldier of Orange^[6]. The film is based on a true story about the Dutch resistance in World War II, written by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema.

In 1980 he made the film Spetters with Renée Soutendijk and again Rutger Hauer. The story is sometimes compared to Saturday Night Fever, but the film has more explicit violence and sexuality (in this case also homosexuality) which are sometimes seen as the trademarks of Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven's film The Fourth Man (1983) is a horror film starring Jeroen Krabbé and Renée Soutendijk. It was written by Gerard Soeteman from a novel by the popular Dutch writer Gerard Reve. This film would be Verhoeven's last Dutch film production until the 2006 film Black Book.

United States

Gerard Soeteman also wrote the script for Verhoeven's first American film, Flesh & Blood (1985), which starred Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Verhoeven moved to Hollywood for a wider range of opportunities in filmmaking. Working in the USA he made a serious change in style, directing big-budget, sometimes violent, special-effects-heavy smashes RoboCop (1987) and Total Recall (1990)—at the time the most expensive film ever produced. Both RoboCop and Total Recall won an Academy Special Achievement Award, respectively for Sound Effects Editing and for Visual Effects.

Verhoeven followed those successes with the non-S.F., but equally intense and provocative, Basic Instinct (1992), the 9th-highest grossing film of the year. The most notorious scene shows Sharon Stone's character in a police interrogation, where she doesn't wear underwear underneath her skirt. Despite the R rating, the film received two Academy Awards nominations, for Film Editing and for Original Music.^[7] Then he made the poorly received NC-17 rated film Showgirls (1995), about a stripper in Las Vegas trying to have a career as a showgirl. The film won seven Raspberry Awards including the ones for worst film and for worst director. Paul Verhoeven was the first director to accept the award in person.

After Basic Instinct and Showgirls, Paul Verhoeven returned to the S.F., graphic violence, and special-effects that had marked his earlier films with Starship Troopers(1997), based on the noted & controversial S.F. novel by the same name, by Robert A. Heinlein, and Hollow Man (2000). Both films received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. Hollow Man had some negative publicity after the truth got out behind Sony's fake journalist David Manning.

Return to the Netherlands

After about 20 years of working and living in the United States Paul Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands for the shooting of a new film. Together with his scenarist Gerard Soeteman he made Black Book (2006). The director was hailed by the host of the Netherlands Film Festival with the words "The return of a hero",^[8] Black Book eventually won 3 Golden Calves at this festival, one for Paul Verhoeven as Best Director.^[9] When the shooting of Black Book was delayed due to financial issues, there were speculations about a new production. The film Beast of Bataan was already announced, but when the shooting for Black Book resumed, the film was never realised.^[10]

Another Dutch film Kneeling on a Bed of Violets is announced. The shooting of this film, which will be directed and (partially) produced by Verhoeven, is planned for 2007.^[11]

Other activities

Paul Verhoeven is a member of the Jesus Seminar.^[12] He is the only member who does not have a degree in biblical studies,^[13] although he holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Leiden.^[4] Since he is not a professional biblical exegete, his membership in the Jesus Seminar has occasionally been cited by opponents of the Seminar as a sign that this group is less scholarly than it claims.^[14] On the other hand, some Jesus Seminar members were unhappy with Verhoeven's portrayal of Jesus as an eschatological prophet.^[15]

In 2007 Paul Verhoeven's book Jesus - the man (Dutch: Jezus - de man) about the life of Jesus will appear.^[16] He is interested in the ideas of Jesus Christ and the corruption of these same ideas in the many years until now. The book can be seen as preparation for Jesus: The Man, a controversial filmproject about the life of Jesus.^[13]

Filmography

Short films

• A Lizzard Too Much (1960)
• Nothing Special (1961)
• De Lifters (1962)
• Let's Have a Party (1963)
• The Wrestler (1970)

Documentaries

• The Royal Dutch Marine Corps (1965)
• Mussert (1968)

Television series

• Floris (1969)
• The Hitchhiker episode 24 "Last Scene" (1986)

Feature films

• Business Is Business (1971)
• Turkish Delight (1973)
• Katie Tippel (1975)
• Soldier of Orange (1977)
• All Things Pass (1979) (TV film)
• Spetters (1980)
• The Fourth Man (1983)
• Flesh & Blood (1985)
• RoboCop (1987)
• Total Recall (1990)
• Basic Instinct (1992)
• Showgirls (1995)
• Starship Troopers (1997)
• Hollow Man (2000)
• Black Book (2006)
• The Winter Queen (2007)
• Kneeling on a Bed of Violets (2008)

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