Le quatrième homme

I had the opportunity to view this film while in university as part of the film society...let me tell you, I had the most eerie nightmares for two days afterwards...it is definitely a must see, but I wouldn't suggest being alone afterwards. Fans of Verhoeven's directing should see this as a contrast to films such as Robocop.

Paul Verhoeven's De Vierde Man (The Fourth Man) is one of the most compelling thrillers I have ever seen. It really was a pleasant surprise. The story concerns bi-sexual writer Gerard (Jeroen Krabbe), as he is lured into a relationship with beautiful hairdresser Christine (Renée Soutendijk), but in the twisted mind of Gerard there could be more to the story. Verhoeven and cinematographer Jan De Bont create a beautiful and thick atmosphere full of surreal and sickening sexual imagery, this really pulls you into the story, you don't want to watch, but you can't turn yourself away. This is by far Verhoeven's best film (maybe second only to Robocop). True The Fourth Man isn't for everyone, some of the sex scenes are quite gratuitous (just ignore them, but trust me, if you watch for at least ten minutes you'll be hooked. This is one of those films that you need to know how it ends, a true whodunit it in the Hitchcock tradition, compelling, controversial and thrilling. I even like the spider metaphor.

8/10

The morbid Catholic writer Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbé) that is homosexual, alcoholic and has frequent visions of death is invited to give a lecture in the literature club of Vlissingen. While in the railway station in Amsterdam, he feels a non-corresponded attraction to a handsome man that embarks in another train. Gerard is introduced to the treasurer of the club and beautician Christine Halsslag (Renée Soutendijk), who is a wealthy widow that owns the beauty shop Sphinx, and they have one night stand. On the next morning, Gerard sees the picture of Christine's boyfriend Herman (Thom Hoffman) and he recognizes him as the man he saw in the train station. He suggests her to bring Herman to her house to spend a couple of days together, but with the secret intention of seducing the man. Christine travels to Köln to bring her boyfriend and Gerard stays alone in her house. He drinks whiskey and snoops her safe, finding three film reels with names of men; he decides to watch the footages and discover that Christine had married the three guys and all of them died in tragic accidents. Later Gerard believes Christine is a witch and question whether Herman or him will be her doomed fourth husband.

The ambiguous "The Vierde Man" is another magnificent feature of Paul Verhoeven in his Dutch phase. The story is supported by an excellent screenplay that uses Catholic symbols to build the tension associated to smart dialogs; magnificent performance of Jeroen Krabbé in the role of a disturbed alcoholic writer; and stunning cinematography. The inconclusive resolution is open to interpretation like in many European movies that explore the common sense and intelligence of the viewers. There are mediocre directors that use front nudity of men to promote their films; however, Paul Verhoeven uses the nudity of Gerard Reve as part of the plot and never aggressive or seeking out sensationalism. Last but not the least; the androgynous beauty of the sexy Renée Soutendijk perfectly fits to her role of a woman that attracts a gay writer. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O 4o Homem" ("The 4th Man")

Paul Verhoeven is known in Hollywood as a maker of ultra-violent, ultra-sleazy films. 'Showgirls' bears the brunt of many bad movie jokes and 'Total Recall' and 'Robocop' are known to be very entertaining but stupid. Depending on who you talk to, 'Basic Instinct' is either sleazy trash or an erotic masterpiece. These films definitely do not belong to the art category: They are Hollywood entertainment. Most people think that is all Verhoeven can do. They will be surprised, as I was, that his Dutch films are suitably different. They are art-house material and several times have been nominated by several critic's associations as Best Foreign Picture. De Vierde Man [The Fourth Man] is his most notable accomplishment It is truly astonishing: It is eerie, gory, sexy and chilling with an amusing and involving performance by Jeroen Krabbe as a bisexual writer who bites off more than he can chew in a sexy hairdresser in the form of blonde Soutendijk.

Krabbe plays real-life writer Gerard Reve whose books are very well-known in the world of literature. He is asked to speak at a function attended by several prominent literary fans. Strange clues are revealed in his journey. He has a hallucination on the commuter train of an eye squishing and oozing through a hotel room door and of his name on a coffin. Later, at the function, a strange woman follows him with a camera, videotaping his every move. She is Christine Halsslag, a hairdresser who is incidently the groups treasurer and says she is videotaping him as '' a memory of his visit''. Though Reve is annoyed by her pestering camera, they seem to hit it off. She shows him the hotel where the group has paid for his room in case he is too tired to go home on the train. His eyes widen, it is the same hotel where the eye oozed through the door. Seeing he is unnerved, Christine asks him if he wants to stay with her. He accepts her offer and.....Things really begin to hit it off......

Soon, some strange things are revealed. It seems that Chrissy's been married three times and her three husbands have died rather bizarre deaths. After seeing a picture of Christine's sometime boyfriend. Herrman, Reve becomes determined to sleep with him and tries to manipulate Christine to invite Herrman back. But, who is doing the real manipulating?

The film is set up similar to a Kubrick film in that everything is told in riddles and visuals that tell the story in a way that resembles some kind of fable of good and evil. The film has much religious symbolism: the opening shot is of a spider crawling over the figure of Christ on the cross and Reve himself seems to have religious visions of what may be the Virgin Mary. Christine herself begins to act strangely: she drives a bit too recklessly for him. The film is very similar to Verhoeven's 'Basic Instinct' in that we have a main character who may be fatally attracted to a killer and the potential murderess has a cold, kinky style that is too strong to resist. Soutendijk even has a resemblance to Sharon Stone: the blonde hair, the sexy yet evil smile, she's like a dramatic version of Elizabeth Hurley's devil in 'Bedazzled'. She so obviously but so easily poisoning him with her sexiness, she is like a devil, tempting the hero with endless pleasure for a high price. If the Virgin Mary finds it so important to protect Reve, isn't it conceivable that Christine is a manifestation of the devil. A behavior near the end seems to suggest this, she is done with Reve and needs to move on to a new soul

Believe it or not, I haven't given away anything. The film twists in so many directions that some things may or may not have ever happened. The film is astonishingly and intelligently directed by Verhoeven and after seeing this, you will be tempted to see his other Dutch films before he was Hollywoodized. Afterwards, I found myself wishing that Verhoeven would do another one of these, a sexy, smart and stunning film.

In Holland a gay writer Gerard (Jeroen Krabbe) gives a lecture. He stays overnight with a beautiful woman Christine (Renee Soutendijk) and has sex with her (by imagining she's a boy). He plans to leave the next day, but gets a look at a picture of Christine's hunky boyfriend Herman (Thom Hoffman) and decides to stay to have a try at him. Then things get strange.

A big X-rated art house hit in the US in 1983. Why was it X rated? Let's see...there's strangulation, full frontal male and female nudity, castration, mutilation, simulated sex, a scene in a church with a cross that will shock most people, a gay sex scene in a crypt...and it's all a comedy!!!!! Paul Verhoeven made this after "Spetters". "Spetters" was attacked by the critics for it's extreme sexual sequences and denounced as trash. So, Verhoeven filled this film with very obvious symbolism thinking the critics would think it was art and praise it. He was right! Critics loved the film not realizing that Verhoeven was playing a big joke on them. Still, it's a great film.

It's beautifully shot by Jan de Bont (now a director himself) and there's so much symbolism and obvious "hidden" layers in the dialogue that you're never bored. All the acting is great--Krabbe plays a thoroughly despicable character but (somehow) has you rooting for him; Soutendijk is just stunning to look at and plays her part to perfection--the little smile she gives when Gerard agrees to stay with her is chilling; Hoffman is extremely handsome with a great body--he deserves credit for doing the church sequence and going at with Krabbe in the crypt.

This is not for people easily offended or the weak of heart, but if you like extreme movies that playfully challenge you (like me) this is for you! A 10 all the way.