The Fourth Man
| The Fourth Man | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
|
| Directed by | Paul Verhoeven |
| Produced by | Rob Houwer |
| Written by | Gerard Reve (novel) Gerard Soeteman |
| Starring | Jeroen Krabbé Renée Soutendijk Thom Hoffman Dolf de Vries |
| Music by | Loek Dikker |
| Cinematography | Jan de Bont |
| Editing by | Ine Schenkkan |
| Studio | Rob Houwer Productions |
| Release date(s) | 24 March 1983 (Netherlands) |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Language | Dutch |
The Fourth Man (Dutch: De vierde man) is a 1983 Dutch suspense film directed by Paul Verhoeven, based on the novel De vierde man by Gerard Reve. The film stars Jeroen Krabbé and Renée Soutendijk in the lead roles. It was Verhoeven's last film made in the Netherlands before he established himself in Hollywood; he would later return to make 2006's Black Book.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbé), an alcoholic, bisexual novelist, leaves Amsterdam to deliver a lecture at the Vlissingen Literary Society. There, he becomes sexually involved with its attractive treasurer, Christine Halslag (Renée Soutendijk), who is alternately described as a witch, black widow, Delilah and the Devil. The Virgin Mary appears to him in visions to show that he is targeted as her fourth victim. Mary says, "Anyone given a warning must listen to it." Gerard listens and his life is spared. He passes on the warning to Herman, Christine's other lover, who ignores it, thinking that Gerard is trying to scare him off so that he can have Christine for himself. The movie ends with Herman's death, Christine's selection of a fifth victim and Gerard's future uncertain.
[edit] Reception & Themes
The film was a decent box office hit in the Netherlands, gaining 274,699 admissions, a modest figure compared to the millions of visitors his previous films had. The film was more successful in the United States where it received widespread critical acclaim. It currently holds a 100% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is his highest rated film. Paul Verhoeven says:
| “ | The Fourth Man 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 regard 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. | ” |
[edit] Reception
Ranked #93 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.[1]
[edit] Sequels
- Loosely remade as Verhoeven's fourth Hollywood movie, Basic Instinct, of which Verhoeven considers The 4th Man to be a spiritual prequel.[2]
[edit] See also
- Isha katlanit, a rule in rabbinic literature (the Talmud) against marrying a woman who has been widowed twice or more.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- De vierde man at the Internet Movie Database
- The Fourth Man at AllRovi
- The Fourth Man at Rotten Tomatoes
|
||||||||||||||
