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 Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden, with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969, he directed the popular Dutch TV series, Floris (1969), about a medieval knight. This featured actor Rutger Hauer, who has appeared in many of Verhoeven's later films. Verhoeven's first feature, Wat zien ik (1971) (trans. "What do I See?"), was released in 1971. However, it was his second, Turkish Delight (1973), with its combination of raw sexuality and a poignant story-line, that gained him great popularity in the Netherlands, especially with male audiences. When his films, especially Soldier of Orange (1977) and The 4th Man (1983), received international recognition, Verhoeven moved to the US. His first US film was Flesh+Blood (1985) in 1985, but it was RoboCop (1987) and, especially, Total Recall (1990) that made him a big box office success. Sometimes accused of portraying excessive violence in his films, Verhoeven replies that he is only recording the violence of society. Verhoeven has co-scripted two of his films: Soldier of Orange (1977) and Flesh+Blood (1985). He also directed an episode of the HBO The Hitchhiker (1983) TV series. Several of his films have been photographed by Jost Vacano, including the hit cult film, Starship Troopers (1997), starring Casper Van Dien.
Bio:
Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden, with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969, he directed the popular Dutch TV series, Floris (1969), about a medieval knight. This featured actor Rutger Hauer, who has appeared in many of Verhoeven's later films. Verhoeven's first feature, Wat zien ik (1971) (trans. "What do I See?"), was released in 1971. However, it was his second, Turkish Delight (1973), with its combination of raw sexuality and a poignant story-line, that gained him great popularity in the Netherlands, especially with male audiences. When his films, especially Soldier of Orange (1977) and The 4th Man (1983), received international recognition, Verhoeven moved to the US. His first US film was Flesh+Blood (1985) in 1985, but it was RoboCop (1987) and, especially, Total Recall (1990) that made him a big box office success. Sometimes accused of portraying excessive violence in his films, Verhoeven replies that he is only recording the violence of society. Verhoeven has co-scripted two of his films: Soldier of Orange (1977) and Flesh+Blood (1985). He also directed an episode of the HBO The Hitchhiker (1983) TV series. Several of his films have been photographed by Jost Vacano, including the hit cult film, Starship Troopers (1997), starring Casper Van Dien.
Tivia:
Became the first nominee ever to actually show up at the Razzie Awards. He personally accepted the 'Worst Director' and 'Worst Picture' awards for Showgirls (1995).Despite directing four science-fiction movies (RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000)), he has admitted that it is definitely not his favorite genre. He has said that as a European, he understood too little about American issues at the time to make a contemporary American movie, and science-fiction movies were a nice way to avoid that problem.Says he declined the offer to direct three back-to-back sequels to The Fast and the Furious (2001) and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).Considers John Landis his only friend in Hollywood.Out of all the films he directed, Starship Troopers (1997) is his personal favorite.He briefly considered directing RoboCop 2 (1990), but could not agree with the studio on the storyline. He ultimately did Total Recall (1990) instead.Was set to direct a (then record) $150-million epic called "Crusade" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1995 for Carolco. However, being an independent company, Carolco couldn't take two risks at the same time. Since Verhoeven could not guarantee that Crusade would not get over budget, the studio preferred Renny Harlin's Cutthroat Island (1995), which made Verhoeven decide to do Showgirls (1995) instead, as a favor to Mario Kassar. Harlin's swashbuckler flopped and bankrupted Carolco, so "Crusade" never got made. Given Schwarzenegger's political career and family problems (and the fact that he still owns the rights to the screenplay), as well as the release of the similarly themed Ridley Scott film Kingdom of Heaven (2005), it is unlikely "Crusade" will ever be made, although Verhoeven is still often quoted as saying he'd be interested.Was offered the chance to direct The Silence of the Lambs (1991), but declined, thinking that there would not be an audience for a movie which such a dark tone. He regretted the decision after the movie proved to be both a critical and commercial success.Of all his films, claimed that Starship Troopers (1997) was the only one he would be interested in revisiting for a true sequel (the 2004 Phil Tippett directed Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) did not involve him) but at one point he wanted to do Minority Report (2002) (directed by Steven Spielberg) as a follow-up to his Total Recall (1990).In his book Jesus of Nazareth, published by Seven Stories Press, Verhoeven cites RoboCop (1987) as his "Jesus movie".He was planning to make a pirate movie called 'Mistress of the Sea' with Geena Davis. However, with an estimated budget of 75 million dollar, the studio demanded a male protagonist to increase the chances of financial success. Verhoeven refused to consider Harrison Ford for the part, and the project was abandoned. Ironically, Davis would later star in the ill-fated pirate movie Cutthroat Island (1995), which was so costly that Carolco studios canceled Verhoeven's project 'Crusade'.Has made films in Dutch, English, German and French.Considers Das Boot (1981) to be the best war movie ever made. One of his reasons for this is the innovative photography by Jost Vacano, who also shot many of Verhoeven's Dutch and American movies.Likes to relax on music from the German hard rock band Rammstein.RoboCop (1987) is his only movie in which he appears in a brief cameo, and it was unintentional. During the scene in the club, he was frenetically moving along with the extras in order to coax them into dancing. The camera picked up some shots of him, and he was very surprised to see that the editor had put some of the footage into the movie (even if for a very brief shot).During his army service in the sixties he made a point of attending public events, including every movie premiere of his then very left-wing hippie friends and colleagues, in his full gala-uniform of the Dutch Royal Marines.Of all the Dutch filmmakers, who ever worked in Hollywood, he's still the most successful and influential.He studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of Leiden.Was offered the chance to direct The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), but did not accept, as he was unsure how to handle the social and political aspects of the movie. He later commented that he liked Philip Kaufman's version of the movie, but felt no regrets over passing on the project.Showing male full frontal nudity was quite normal in Verhoeven's Dutch films up to The 4th Man (1983). After that, he pursued a career in the USA, where the movie rating system wouldn't allowed this. The only full male nudity in his American films is in Hollow Man (2000), which was allowed because the penis was half-invisible and seen through a thermal scanner.Had a falling out with frequent collaborator Rutger Hauer on the set of Flesh+Blood (1985), which would become the last movie they made together. After Hauer's death in 2019, Verhoeven stated that they had regular dinners with their respective spouses in the last ten years of Hauer's life, so he considered the matter resolved.Member of the jury at the 'I've Seen Films International Film Festival 2011', founded by Rutger Hauer.After studying Math and Physics (mainly to appease his parents), he started the Dutch film school, but dropped out after a year, stating that he felt he didn't learn anything there. Being self-taught would later cause some friction with professional critics who looked down on amateur filmmakers, and regularly panned his movies.He has stated that Rutger Hauer was to him as Marcello Mastroianni was to Federico Fellini; his 'cinematic alter ego' through whom he could maximally express himself, which was the reason that Verhoeven would always be looking for a role that Hauer could play in his movies.Directed one Oscar-nominated performance: Isabelle Huppert in Elle (2016).His last name is correctly pronounced as "Vair-who-ven" instead of "Vair-HO-ven".Was a member of the Leiden students body "Minerva", which plays a central role in his acclaimed Soldier of Orange (1977), based on Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema's book.Did a series of reviews on many well-known and lesser known classic movies in a Dutch newspaper, inspired by A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995). The reviews were later published as collected works, and are quite popular with Dutch film students.Speaks Dutch, English, French and German.His only Hollywood films that have not yet had a sequel are Flesh+Blood (1985) and Total Recall (1990) (although a short-lived Total Recall television series was made). All his other Hollywood epics (RoboCop (1987), Basic Instinct (1992), Showgirls (1995), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000)) have had one or more sequels made. He did not direct any of them, nor did he have any affiliation with the remakes Total Recall (2012), RoboCop (2014), and the planned 'Starship Troopers'.Was slated to direct a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), but the film got shelved for a while. When the project was finally revived, Verhoeven left due to disagreements over the script. The film was ultimately never made.Had to collect unemployment benefits in between his Dutch movies.German cinematographer Jost Vacano shot 7 feature films for him, more than Jan de Bont, who only shot 6 of them. Verhoeven said, that he first became aware of Vacano through the groundbreaking camera techniques used in Supermarket (1974).Member of the 'Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS).Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 64th Venice International Film Festival in 2007.President of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017.In 2004, Paul Verhoeven finished at number 97 in the election of ''De Grootste Nederlander'' (The Greatest Dutchman).Likes to drink Cola light.The only other Dutch filmmakers of which he ever spoke approvingly were Dick Maas, Martin Koolhoven and documentary maker Bert Haanstra. |
| Name: |
Paul Verhoeven |
Type: |
Director,Producer,Writer (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Director,Producer,Writer |
| Products for sale: |
Director,Producer,Writer |
| Model rank: |
292 |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 04:14:37 |
| Height: |
5' 8' (1.73 m) |
| Biography: |
Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden, with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969, he directed the popu |
| Trivia: |
Became the first nominee ever to actually show up at the Razzie Awards. He personally accepted the 'Worst Director' and 'Worst Picture' awards for Showgirls (1995).Despite directing four science-fiction movies (RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000)), he has admitted that it is definitely not his favorite genre. He has said that as a European, he understood too little about American issues at the time to make a contemporary American movie, and science-fiction movies were a nice way to avoid that problem.Says he declined the offer to direct three back-to-back sequels to The Fast and the Furious (2001) and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).Considers John Landis his only friend in Hollywood.Out of all the films he directed, Starship Troopers (1997) is his personal favorite.He briefly considered directing RoboCop 2 (1990), but could not agree with the studio on the storyline. He ultimately did Total Recall (1990) instead.Was set to direct a (then record) $150-million epic called "Crusade" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1995 for Carolco. However, being an independent company, Carolco couldn't take two risks at the same time. Since Verhoeven could not guarantee that Crusade would not get over budget, the studio preferred Renny Harlin's Cutthroat Island (1995), which made Verhoeven decide to do Showgirls (1995) instead, as a favor to Mario Kassar. Harlin's swashbuckler flopped and bankrupted Carolco, so "Crusade" never got made. Given Schwarzenegger's political career and family problems (and the fact that he still owns the rights to the screenplay), as well as the release of the similarly themed Ridley Scott film Kingdom of Heaven (2005), it is unlikely "Crusade" will ever be made, although Verhoeven is still often quoted as saying he'd be interested.Was offered the chance to direct The Silence of the Lambs (1991), but declined, thinking that there would not be an audience for a movie which such a dark tone. He regretted the decision after the movie proved to be both a critical and commercial success.Of all his films, claimed that Starship Troopers (1997) was the only one he would be interested in revisiting for a true sequel (the 2004 Phil Tippett directed Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) did not involve him) but at one point he wanted to do Minority Report (2002) (directed by Steven Spielberg) as a follow-up to his Total Recall (1990).In his book Jesus of Nazareth, published by Seven Stories Press, Verhoeven cites RoboCop (1987) as his "Jesus movie".He was planning to make a pirate movie called 'Mistress of the Sea' with Geena Davis. However, with an estimated budget of 75 million dollar, the studio demanded a male protagonist to increase the chances of financial success. Verhoeven refused to consider Harrison Ford for the part, and the project was abandoned. Ironically, Davis would later star in the ill-fated pirate movie Cutthroat Island (1995), which was so costly that Carolco studios canceled Verhoeven's project 'Crusade'.Has made films in Dutch, English, German and French.Considers Das Boot (1981) to be the best war movie ever made. One of his reasons for this is the innovative photography by Jost Vacano, who also shot many of Verhoeven's Dutch and American movies.Likes to relax on music from the German hard rock band Rammstein.RoboCop (1987) is his only movie in which he appears in a brief cameo, and it was unintentional. During the scene in the club, he was frenetically moving along with the extras in order to coax them into dancing. The camera picked up some shots of him, and he was very surprised to see that the editor had put some of the footage into the movie (even if for a very brief shot).During his army service in the sixties he made a point of attending public events, including every movie premiere of his then very left-wing hippie friends and colleagues, in his full gala-uniform of the Dutch Royal Marines.Of all the Dutch filmmakers, who ever worked in Hollywood, he's still the most successful and influential.He studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of Leiden.Was offered the chance to direct The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), but did not accept, as he was unsure how to handle the social and political aspects of the movie. He later commented that he liked Philip Kaufman's version of the movie, but felt no regrets over passing on the project.Showing male full frontal nudity was quite normal in Verhoeven's Dutch films up to The 4th Man (1983). After that, he pursued a career in the USA, where the movie rating system wouldn't allowed this. The only full male nudity in his American films is in Hollow Man (2000), which was allowed because the penis was half-invisible and seen through a thermal scanner.Had a falling out with frequent collaborator Rutger Hauer on the set of Flesh+Blood (1985), which would become the last movie they made together. After Hauer's death in 2019, Verhoeven stated that they had regular dinners with their respective spouses in the last ten years of Hauer's life, so he considered the matter resolved.Member of the jury at the 'I've Seen Films International Film Festival 2011', founded by Rutger Hauer.After studying Math and Physics (mainly to appease his parents), he started the Dutch film school, but dropped out after a year, stating that he felt he didn't learn anything there. Being self-taught would later cause some friction with professional critics who looked down on amateur filmmakers, and regularly panned his movies.He has stated that Rutger Hauer was to him as Marcello Mastroianni was to Federico Fellini; his 'cinematic alter ego' through whom he could maximally express himself, which was the reason that Verhoeven would always be looking for a role that Hauer could play in his movies.Directed one Oscar-nominated performance: Isabelle Huppert in Elle (2016).His last name is correctly pronounced as "Vair-who-ven" instead of "Vair-HO-ven".Was a member of the Leiden students body "Minerva", which plays a central role in his acclaimed Soldier of Orange (1977), based on Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema's book.Did a series of reviews on many well-known and lesser known classic movies in a Dutch newspaper, inspired by A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995). The reviews were later published as collected works, and are quite popular with Dutch film students.Speaks Dutch, English, French and German.His only Hollywood films that have not yet had a sequel are Flesh+Blood (1985) and Total Recall (1990) (although a short-lived Total Recall television series was made). All his other Hollywood epics (RoboCop (1987), Basic Instinct (1992), Showgirls (1995), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000)) have had one or more sequels made. He did not direct any of them, nor did he have any affiliation with the remakes Total Recall (2012), RoboCop (2014), and the planned 'Starship Troopers'.Was slated to direct a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), but the film got shelved for a while. When the project was finally revived, Verhoeven left due to disagreements over the script. The film was ultimately never made.Had to collect unemployment benefits in between his Dutch movies.German cinematographer Jost Vacano shot 7 feature films for him, more than Jan de Bont, who only shot 6 of them. Verhoeven said, that he first became aware of Vacano through the groundbreaking camera techniques used in Supermarket (1974).Member of the 'Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS).Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 64th Venice International Film Festival in 2007.President of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017.In 2004, Paul Verhoeven finished at number 97 in the election of ''De Grootste Nederlander'' (The Greatest Dutchman).Likes to drink Cola light.The only other Dutch filmmakers of which he ever spoke approvingly were Dick Maas, Martin Koolhoven and documentary maker Bert Haanstra. |
| Trademarks: |
Famous for his extremely violent, yet intelligent, science fiction films (RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000)).
Frequently works with screenwriter Gerard Soeteman (on his Dutch films), photographer Jost Vacano, and Rutger Hauer (Turkish Delight (1973), Katie Tippel (1975), Soldier of Orange (1977), Spetters (1980) and Flesh+Blood (1985)).
A lot of his films include media coverage of some kind, ranging from real archive footage (Soldier of Orange (1977) ) to fictional news (RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997)) and sportscasts (Spetters (1980)).
Heavy use of Christian symbolism (Turkish Delight (1973),Spetters (1980), The 4th Man (1983), Flesh+Blood (1985), RoboCop (1987), Basic Instinct (1992) )
Sexually-charged subject matter (Turkish Delight (1973), Basic Instinct (1992), Showgirls (1995) and Black Book (2006)). |
| Quotes: |
People seem to have this strange idea that films can influence people to be violent, but in my sincere opinion film only reflects the violence of society.
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<hr>
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. I really like documentaries, therefore, reality is important to me when I do fiction. It is often related to my own life, my Dutch background. The art scene in Holland has always attempted to be realistic. The Dutch painters of 400 years ago were meticulously realistic. The example I always like to use is a marvelous painting by Hieronymus Bosch titled "The Prodigal Son". It is a painting of a brothel, and in the corner is a man pissing against a wall. You would never, never find something like that in an Italian, French or English painting of that epoch. The Dutch have always been more scientific, interested in detail; certainly less idealistic and more realistic. The sex scenes in The 4th Man (1983) and Turkish Delight (1973) were based on real experiences I had or a friend had. It's very personal. Of course, I must admit that I love to shock audiences.
<br />
<hr>
The 4th Man (1983) has to do with my vision of religion. In my opinion, Christianity is nothing more than one of many interpretations of reality, neither more nor less. Ideally, it would be nice to believe that there is a God somewhere out there, but it looks to me as if the whole Christian religion is a major symptom of schizophrenia in half the world's population: civilizations scrambling to rationalize their chaotic existence. Subsequently, Christianity has a tendency to look like magic or the occult. And I liked that ambiguity, because I wanted my audience to take something home with them. I wanted them to wonder about what religion really is. Remember that Christianity is a religion grounded in one of the most violent acts of murder, the crucifixion. Otherwise, religion wouldn't have had any kind of impact. With regards to the irony of the violence, much of that probably comes from my childhood experiences during and immediately following the Second World War. In fact, if it hadn't been for the German occupation and then the American occupation, I would have never been a filmmaker.
<br />
<hr>
The sooner we admit our capacity for evil the less apt we are to destroy each other.
<br />
<hr>
People love seeing violence and horrible things. The human being is bad and he can't stand more than five minutes of happiness. Put him in a dark theater and ask him to look at two hours of happiness and he'd walk out or fall asleep. |
| Salaries: |
Showgirls (1995) - $2,000,000
<br />
<hr>
Basic Instinct (1992) - $5,000,000 |
| Job title: |
Director,Producer,Writer |
| Spouse: |
Martine Verhoeven (April 7, 1967 - present) (3 children) |
| Children: |
ChildHelen VerhoevenClaudia Verhoeven |
| Parents: |
Wim Verhoeven
Nel van Schaardenburg |
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