PAUL VERHOEVEN

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(RE)BORN IN THE USA

Born in 1938, Paul Verhoeven developed his interest in filmmaking during his time in the Dutch Navy, for whom he made documentaries. He made a series of feature films, many of them starring Rutger Hauer, before leaving his native Netherlands to helm his first English-language film, medieval epic Flesh and Blood (1985), again with Hauer. But Verhoeven’s big Hollywood break came with his ‘American Jesus’ tale, 1987’s RoboCop.

BASER INSTINCTS

From Starship Troopers’ all-inclusive showers to that leg cross, Verhoeven has never been shy about matters of the flesh. The director likes to push boundaries - not only in Basic Instinct, but also in the voyeurism-centred Hollow Man (2000) and rape-revenge tale Elle (2016). ‘Sex is the essence of existence,’ he told The Times. ‘Without it, there are no species any more.’ Recent erotic drama Benedetta (2021) showed he has no intention of toeing the line any time soon…

SATIRE POWER

Verhoeven’s 80s and 90s work offers a smart, satirical and sometimes scathing take on American culture. In RoboCop, Total Recall (1990) and Starship Troopers (1997), he finds plenty to say about the country’s consumerist excess, rampant corruption and moral decline. Often dismissed as trash, 1995’s Showgirls sends up vulgarity with its own pointed seediness, gleefully subverting the American dream.

MILITARY COUPS

The horrors of 30s/40s Europe had a profound impact on Verhoeven that filtered into his work. Unimpressed by the conservatism of Starship Troopers’ source material, he adapted it into a wickedly sharp commentary on fetishistic militarism. He tackled the subject of war more earnestly in two World War Two dramas, the Golden Globe-nominated Soldier of Orange (1977) and Black Book (2006), which was shortlisted for a BAFTA.

VIOLENT TENDENCIES

‘The world is full of violence,’ the filmmaker told The Guardian. There’s certainly plenty of it in Verhoeven’s blockbusters, from Officer Murphy’s still-harrowing takedown in RoboCop to the grotesque ballooning heads of Total Recall. Why the fascination with body horror? ‘People love seeing violence and horrible things,’ he explained to the LA Times. ‘The human being is bad and can’t stand more than five minutes of happiness.’ JOEL HARLEY