Paul Verhoeven

Early life

Paul Verhoeven was born in Amsterdam on 18 July 1938, the son of a schoolteacher, Wim Verhoeven, and a hatmaker, Nel van Schaardenburg. Despite what is sometimes reported, he is not related to German filmmaker Michael Verhoeven, whose father was also named Paul Verhoeven.

In 1943, the family moved to The Hague, the location of the German headquarters in the Netherlands during World War II. The Verhoeven house was near a German military base with V1- and V2-rocket launchers, which was repeatedly bombed by Allied forces. Their neighbours' house was hit and Verhoeven's 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 an exciting adventure, and has compared himself with the character Bill Rowan in Hope and Glory (1987).

Verhoeven's father became headteacher at the Van Heutszschool in The Hague, and Paul attended this school. Sometimes the two watched informative films at home with the school's film projector.

Verhoeven and his father went to see The War of the Worlds (1953) ten times. Verhoeven was a fan of the Dutch comic Dick Bos, a private detective who fights crime using jujutsu. Verhoeven liked comic drawing; he created The Killer, a character in a detailed story of revenge. Other fiction he liked included Frankenstein and the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series.

Verhoeven attended public secondary school Gymnasium Haganum in The Hague. Later, beginning in 1956, he studied at Leiden University. He graduated in 1964 with a doctorandus (MSc) in mathematics as a major and physics as a minor.

Career

Short films and TV series (1960–1969)

Verhoeven made his first film Één hagedis teveel ("One Lizard Too Many") for the anniversary of his students' corps in 1960. In his last years at university Verhoeven also attended classes at the Netherlands Film Academy. After this he made three more short films: Nothing Special (1961), The Hitchhikers (1962) and Let's Have a Party (1963).

Verhoeven has not professionally used his mathematics and physics degree, opting instead to invest his energies in a career in film. After his studies, he entered the Royal Dutch Navy as a conscript. He made the documentary Het Korps Mariniers ("The Marine Corps", 1965), which won the French 'Golden Sun' award for military films.

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

First feature films (1969–1983)

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

Verhoeven built on his reputation and achieved international success with the Golden Globe-nominated Soldier of Orange (1977), starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé. Based on a true story about the Dutch resistance in World War II, it was written by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema. Soldier of Orange received the 1979 LA Film Critics Award for best foreign-language film, and it was also nominated for a Golden Globe in 1980.

In 1980, Verhoeven made Spetters with Renée Soutendijk and Rutger Hauer. The story is sometimes compared to Saturday Night Fever, but it has more explicit violence and sexuality (in this case also homosexuality), which are sometimes seen as the director's trademarks. 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 Dutch writer Gerard Reve, and was Verhoeven's last Dutch production until Black Book (2006). The Seattle Times praised Verhoeven by saying he "often appears to be a one-man Dutch movie industry". The San Diego Union-Tribune called Verhoeven "a busy bee whose movies pollinate the festival circuit".

Filmmaking in the United States (1983–2000)

Gerard Soeteman also wrote the script for Verhoeven's first English-language film, Flesh and 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 U.S., he made a serious change in style, directing big-budget, violent, special-effects-heavy hits RoboCop (1987) and Total Recall (1990)⁠ — each of which won an Academy Special Achievement Award: RoboCop for Sound Effects Editing and Total Recall for Visual Effects.

Verhoeven followed those successes with Basic Instinct (1992), an erotic thriller. The film's most notorious scene shows Sharon Stone's character in a police interrogation, where she uncrosses her legs, briefly revealing her vulva (she does not wear underwear underneath her skirt). The film received two Academy Award nominations, for Film Editing and for Original Music, and was the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year.

During this time, Verhoeven also worked on creating an historical epic based around the Crusades that would have starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. It went into pre-production in 1993, but a year later the studio backing it, Carolco, pulled funding for the project. Verhoeven would continue to discuss it throughout the 1990s.

Verhoeven's next film was the poorly received, NC-17-rated Showgirls (1995), about a stripper in Las Vegas trying to make a career as a showgirl. It won seven Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Film and Worst Director; Verhoeven became the first director to accept his award in person. To date, he is one of the few people to have accepted their Golden Raspberry awards in person, and the first to directly attend the ceremony to receive it. Showgirls enjoyed a large amount of success on the home video market, generating more than $100 million from video rentals, and became one of MGM's top twenty all-time bestsellers.

After Basic Instinct and Showgirls, Verhoeven returned to the science fiction genre, utilizing the graphic violence and special-effects tropes that had marked his earlier films, making Starship Troopers (1997), loosely based on the novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein, as well as Hollow Man (2000). Each film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. He also served as an executive producer on an animated TV series called Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, which was based on the movie and novel of Starship Troopers. The series only ran for a single season, from August 1999 until April 2000.

Return to Europe (2006–2021)

After about twenty years of working and living in the United States, Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands for the shooting of a new film. Together with his screenwriter Gerard Soeteman, Verhoeven made Black Book (2006). The director was hailed by the host of the Netherlands Film Festival with the words "The return of a hero". Black Book won six Golden Calves at this festival, including Best Director. When the shooting of Black Book was delayed due to financial issues, there was speculation about a new production. Beast of Bataan had been announced, but once the shooting for Black Book resumed, the other film was not made.

Verhoeven was knighted in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2007.

Since Black Book, Verhoeven has been connected to a large number of projects, but in the first decade after his return, none came to fruition. Some of those titles were produced with other directors at the helm, such as The Paperboy. In 2016, however, Verhoeven followed Black Book by directing a French film: Elle, an adaptation of a novel by Philippe Djian. A psychological thriller in which Isabelle Huppert plays a rape victim, Elle was selected for the Official Competition at the Cannes International Film Festival, where it obtained very favourable reviews.

In December 2016, it was announced that Verhoeven would be the president of the jury for the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, scheduled to take place in February 2017.

In April 2017, it was announced that filming of Benedetta, his next French film, would begin in August of the same year. It is a biopic about the life of Benedetta Carlini, portrayed by Elle co-star Virginie Efira, and is an adaptation of the non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown. In May 2018, it was announced that Charlotte Rampling would play a key supporting role. The film premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or.

Return to filmmaking in the United States (2022–present)

Verhoeven is currently preparing his next film, Young Sinner, which reunites him with RoboCop screenwriter Edward Neumeier. An erotic political thriller, it is set in Washington DC and is about a "young staffer who works for a powerful Senator [and] is drawn into a web of international intrigue and danger." Verhoeven hoped to begin shooting Young Sinner in 2024.

Unrealized projects

Main article: Paul Verhoeven's unrealized projects

Other activities

Verhoeven was a member of the Jesus Seminar, and he was the only member who does not have a degree in biblical studies. He graduated with a degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Leiden. 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. For example, Luke Timothy Johnson criticizes the Jesus Seminar's methods on exegetical grounds, and also criticizes what he perceives to be a dependence on the theatrical and an attempt to manipulate the mainstream media. He singles out Verhoeven as a key player in the media activities of the Jesus Seminar. On the other hand, some Jesus Seminar members were unhappy with Verhoeven's portrayal of Jesus as an eschatological prophet.

In 2007, Verhoeven wrote the book Jesus of Nazareth () about the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The book reviews the ideas of Jesus of Nazareth and the alleged corruption of these same ideas over the last 2,000 years. Co-written with Verhoeven's biographer Rob Van Scheers, the book is the culmination of the research Verhoeven conducted in preparation for Jesus: The Man, a motion picture about the life of Christ. The book tells about the Jewish uprising against Roman rule and characterizes Jesus as a radical political activist, downplaying any supernatural events and miracles as unproved or unprovable. Jesus of Nazareth: A Realistic Portrait was released in September 2008 in Dutch, and was published in English in May 2010 by Seven Stories Press.

Personal life

In 1967, Verhoeven married Martine Tours, with whom he has two daughters.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Television

Director

Executive producer

Awards and nominations

Film festivals

References

References

1. Walters, Ben. (3 February 2017). "Paul Verhoeven: cinema's mischievous satirist is more vital than ever". [[The Guardian]].
2. "Turks fruit". [[Netherlands Film Festival]].
3. Wood, Jennifer. (22 September 2015). "Showgirls': Paul Verhoeven on the Greatest Stripper Movie Ever Made". Rollingstone.com.
4. Rochlin, Margy. (25 May 2008). "Step by Step, the Showgirl Must Go On". [[The New York Times]].
5. "How Showgirls exposed the rot of our misogynistic culture".
6. (22 September 2020). "'Showgirls' is Absurd, Problematic, and Famously Bad. 25 Years Later It's a Hate-Watch Classic".
7. (3 October 2008). "Zwartboek beste film aller tijden". Cinema.nl.
8. Bauer, Pat. "Paul Verhoeven".
9. Testelmans, Rob. (2003). "Een beetje oorlog, best spannend". De cinema van Paul Verhoeven: voorbij de controverse.
10. Scheers, Rob van. (20 September 2016). "Paul Verhoeven als het zoontje van het schoolhoofd".
11. "Paul Verhoeven, 'Ik voel me op mijn gemak bij vrouwen'". Leidraad, Alumni magazine van de Universiteit Leiden, Zomer 2016, pp. 18-21.
12. "Paul Verhoeven: Biography". gonemovies.com.
13. (1980). "Winners & Nominees: Soldier of Orange". Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
14. Hartl, John. (7 June 1985). "'The Fourth Man' is occult thriller that holds suspense". [[The Seattle Times]].
15. Elliott, David. (20 July 1984). "'The Fourth Man' is half-baked film". [[The San Diego Union-Tribune]].
16. "1993 Nominees (B)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
17. Brew, Simon. (3 March 2009). "The 7 films that Arnold Schwarzenegger never made".
18. Vigilla, Hubert. (29 February 2012). "From Hell: Paul Verhoeven/Arnold Schwarzenegger's Crusade".
19. Yakir, Dan. (February 1996). "Starship Instincts". [[Starlog]].
20. (22 September 2015). "'Showgirls': Paul Verhoeven on Greatest Stripper Movie Ever".
21. (28 April 2007). "Showgirls DVD". MGM.
22. Podgorski, Daniel. (4 February 2016). "Poking Fun at Militarism: How Paul Verhoeven's Cult Classic ''Starship Troopers'' Willfully Discards Robert Heinlein's Novel".
23. (2018). "The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows". Rowman & Littlefield.
24. (6 October 2006). "Gala van de Nederlandse Film". filmfestival.nl.
25. (6 October 2006). "Winnaars Gouden Kalveren 2006".
26. (27 April 2007). "Paul Verhoeven geridderd in Den Haag". Omroep West.
27. "Jury President of the Berlinale 2017: Paul Verhoeven". Berlinale.
28. (26 April 2017). "Paul Verhoeven to Direct 'Blessed Virgin,' Based on True Story of Lesbian Nun". Variety.
29. "Virginie Efira retourne chez Paul Verhoeven". Le Blog d'Ecran Noir.
30. (26 April 2017). "Virginie Efira en Sainte Vierge pour le prochain Paul Verhoeven". [[Allociné]].
31. (1 May 2018). "Charlotte Rampling Set To Join Paul Verhoeven's Erotic Thriller 'Blessed Virgin'". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
32. (4 June 2020). "Festival de Cannes: un film déjà sélectionné pour l'édition 2021".
33. Keslassy, Elsa. (7 December 2021). "Paul Verhoeven Reteams With 'RoboCop' Writer for Women-Led Erotic Thriller 'Young Sinner'".
34. (6 January 2024). "Paul Verhoeven 'Wouldn't Hesitate' to Make Another Blockbuster".
35. "Meet the Westar Fellows: Paul Verhoeven". westarinstitute.org.
36. (3 September 2005). "Paul Verhoeven schrijft boek over Jezus". Katholiek Nederland.
37. Hakkenes, Emiel. (24 October 2008). "Verhoeven is niet echt zeer geleerd". [[Trouw]].
38. Shaw, Dan. (January 2003). "Paul Verhoeven". Senses of Cinema.
39. Johnson, Luke Timothy. (1996). "The Real Jesus". HarperSanFrancisco.
40. Allen, Charlotte. (February 1995). "Away with the Manger". Lingua Franca.
41. "Fondslijst Uitgeverij Bijleveld". bijleveldbooks.nl.
42. "Jesus of Nazareth by Paul Verhoeven". Seven Stories Press.
43. "Korte biografie en documentaire over filmregiseur en Bezuidenhouter Paul Verhoeven {{!}} Bezuidenhout".