Directed by:
Paul VerhoevenScreenplay:
Gerard SoetemanCinematography:
Jan de BontComposer:
Loek DikkerCast:
Jeroen Krabbé, Renée Soutendijk, Dolf de Vries, Thom Hoffman, Geert de Jong, Hero Muller, Filip Bolluyt, Hans Veerman, Erik J. Meijer, Reinout Bussemaker (more)Plots(1)
Magic realistic thriller, adapted from the novel by Gerard Reve, revolves around the themes of homosexuality and fear of dying. De vierde man tells of an erratic homosexual writer who gets entangled in an affair with an admirer of his. He finds out that all three of her husbands died in accidents. Owing to the film's superior style - Verhoeven was compared with famous directors like Kubrick, Hitchcock and Bergman - it won awards at several foreign festivals. It was his last Dutch film, before he left for Hollywood. (Nederlands Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (2)
Paul Verhoeven isn't as explicit as David Cronenberg, but he still manages to grasp the essence of humanity and its dark side with such terrifying beauty that you almost don't want to watch it. This is precisely the case that is beautifully raw and also brutal, where in the end, you'll lovingly sigh at how beautifully it resembles Italian giallo.
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Gerard is truly a showpiece in the gallery of Paul's usual asshole protagonists, so the typically Verhoeven plot, a plot that couldn't have taken place if the film's hero was thinking with anything other than his dick, manages to take us into some truly twisted narrative corners this time around. Sexy Jesus in his underpants, tomato juice, and St. Joseph stacking scaffolding: in short, once again a terribly funny and daring genre film, but one that is hard to take seriously because of the almost distilled misanotropy that blocks any attempt to relate to the characters.
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