Paul Verhoeven

“As a director, my goal is to be completely open. Just look at how I portray sex in my films. They're considered shocking and obscene because I like to carefully examine human sexuality. It has to be realistic.”

Known for always pushing the envelope when it comes to showing sex and violence on screen, Paul Verhoeven has directed controversial films in several genres, including the erotic thriller (Basic Instinct), melodrama (Showgirls) and science fiction (RoboCop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Hollow Man). However, even before going to Hollywood, Verhoeven had been a succès de scandale in his native Netherlands, where he directed a war saga (Soldier of Orange), a medieval epic (Flesh+Blood), a psychosexual thriller (The Fourth Man) and a sex comedy (Turkish Delight, which was voted Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival). Verhoeven has shown that visceral thrills can be thought provoking, challenging our received notions of heroism, patriotism, and eroticism. He has created some of the most courageous and contentious films of recent years.

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About the author:
Douglas Keesey is a professor of film and literature at California Polytechnic State University. He is the author of The Films of Peter Greenaway and Don DeLillo, as well as TASCHEN titles Erotic Cinema and Paul Verhoeven.

Facts

Paul Verhoeven

Duncan, Paul (ED)
Keesey, Douglas
Flexicover 7.7 x 9.6 in., 192 pages, $ 19.99

Reviews (21 items)

"Ce qu`il y a de bien avec TASCHEN, c`est que cet éditeur « culte » propose toujours des livres d`une qualité fantastique pour un prix dérisoire (en dehors des collections de luxe, souvent hors de prix, mais qui sont à la limite des oeuvres d`art !). Leur dernier bijou en date est un somptueux ouvrage consacré au réalisateur Paul Verhoeven, de ses débuts provocateurs en Hollande à son premier succès (La Chair et le Sang), jusqu`à ses productions hollywoodiennes ! (…) Richement illustré et passionnant, voilà le genre d`ouvrage qu`on aimerait voir sur nos réalisateurs préférés, de films ou de jeux vidéo. "
Addict Magazine, Montreuil, France

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Clippings (7 items)

Paul Verhoeven
Film Review, United Kingdom, April 01, 2007

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See also (13 items)

	Michael Mann Mann of many faces
	Jean Renoir Le maître du cinéma
	Michelangelo Antonioni Poetry and motion: the film art of Michelangelo Antonioni
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