Verhoeven, Paul 1938- (Jan Jansen)

PERSONAL

Born July 18, 1938, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; married Martine, 1967; children: three. Education: University of Leiden, Ph.D., mathematics and physics.

Addresses:

Office—Verhoeven Productions, 1345 North Hayworth Ave., Suite 104, Los Angeles, CA 90046. Agent—International Creative Management, 10250 Constellation Way, Ninth Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067. Manager—The Marion Rosenberg Office, 8428 Melrose Place, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Career:

Director, producer, writer, and actor. Verhoeven Productions, Los Angeles, principal. Venice International Film Festival, member of the jury, 2007. Jesus Seminar, member, 1986—. Military service: Royal Dutch Navy, documentary filmmaker, 1964-66.

Awards, Honors:

Academy Award nomination, best foreign-language film, c. 1972, and Golden Calf (with Rob Houwer), best Dutch film of the century (beste nederlandse film van de eeuw), Nederlands Film Festival, 1999, both for Turks fruit; Golden Globe Award nomination and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award nomination, best foreign film, c. 1979, and Golden Calf, second best Dutch film of the century, 1999, all for Soldaat van Oranje; International Critics' Award (FIPRESCI), Toronto International Film Festival, 1983, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best foreign film, 1984, and Special Jury Award and nomination for the Grand Prize, both Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, 1984, all for Die vierde man; Golden Calf, best director (beste regie), Nederlands Film Festival, 1985, and International Fantasy Film Award nomination, best film, Fantasporto, 1986, both for Flesh+Blood; Best Director Award, Stiges—Catalonian International Film Festival, 1987, Saturn Award, best director, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, 1988, C.S.T. Award, Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, 1988, and Readers' Choice Award, best foreign-language film, Kinema Junpo awards, 1989, all for RoboCop; Saturn Award nomination, best director, 1991, and Video Premiere Award nomination, best audio commentary, DVD Exclusive awards, 2001, both for Total Recall; Golden Calf, Dutch Culture Award (Cultuurprijs), 1992; Saturn Award nomination, best director, 1993, for Basic Instinct; Saturn Award nomination, best director, 1998, for Starship Troopers; Audience Award and Leopard of Honor, both Locarno International Film Festival, 2000, for Hollow Man; Grolsch Film Boulevard, Nederlands Film Festival, 2000; Daytime Emmy Award nomination (with others), outstanding special class animated program, 2001, for Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles; Lifetime Achievement Award, Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, 2002; Golden Calf, best director (beste regie), 2006, Young Cinema Award, best international film, and Golden Lion Award nomination, both Venice International Film Festival, 2006, Film Award nomination (with others), best film not in the English language, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 2007, Audience Award nomination, best film, European Film awards, 2007, Rembrandt awards, beste nederlandse film, 2007, and beste DVD uitbreng, 2008, and Film Critics Circle of Australia Award nomination, best foreign-language film, 2008, all for Zwartboek.

CREDITS

Film Director:

Een Hagedis teveel (short film; also known as A Lizard Too Much), 1960, appeared in De wereld draait door, 2006.

Niets bijzonders (short film; also known as Nothing Special), 1961.

De lifters (short film), 1962.

Feest (short film; also known as Let's Have a Party), 1963.

Het Korps Mariniers (short documentary; also known as The Royal Dutch Marine Corps), 1965.

De worstelaar (short film; also known as The Wrestler), 1970.

Wat zien ik? (also known as Any Special Way, Business Is Business, Diary of a Hooker, Memories of a Streetwalker, What Do I See?, and Wat zien ik), Nederland Film, 1971.

Turks fruit (also known as Eric and Olga, The Sensualist, Turkish Delight, and Wild Intent), Nederland Film, 1972.

Keetje Tippel (also known as Cathy Tippel, A Girl Called Katy Tippel, Hot Sweat, Katie Tippel, and Katie's Passion), Tuschinski Film Distribution, 1975.

Soldaat van Oranje (also known as Soldier of Orange, Soldier of the Queen, Soldiers, and Survival Run), Tuschinski Film Distribution, 1977, subtitled version released by International Picture Show, 1979, other editions also released.

Spetters, [the Netherlands], 1980, subtitled version released by the Samuel Goldwyn Company.

Die vierde man (also known as The Fourth Man and The 4th Man), 1983, subtitled version released by International Spectrafilm, 1984.

Flesh+Blood (also known as Flesh + Blood, The Rose and the Sword, and Los senores del acero), Cannon Tuschinski Film Distribution/Orion, 1985.

RoboCop, Orion, 1987, other editions also released.

Total Recall, TriStar, 1990, other editions also released.

Basic Instinct (also known as Ice Cold Desire), TriStar, 1992.

(As Jan Jansen for edited version for television) Showgirls, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1995, other versions also released.

Starship Troopers, TriStar, 1997.

Hollow Man, Columbia, 2000.

Zwartboek (also known as Black Book), A-Film Distribution, 2006.

Azazel (also known as The Winter Queen), Parallel Media/Seven Arts Pictures/TPA Film, 2009.

The Thomas Crown Affair 2, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Twentieth Century-Fox, 2009.

Worked on other projects.

Film Executive Producer:

Hollow Man II, Destination Films, 2006.

Film Producer:

Feest (short film; also known as Let's Have a Party), 1963.

Azazel (also known as The Winter Queen), Parallel Media/Seven Arts Pictures/TPA Film, 2009.

Film Advisor:

Ik ben Joep Meloen, 1981.

Scenario advisor, Vroeger is dood (also known as Bygones), 1987.

Film Camera Operator:

Palaver, 1969.

Documentary Film Appearances:

Himself, Op de fiets naar Hollywood (also known as Hollywood by Bike), 1993.

Himself, A Century of Cinema (also known as Hollywood Stars: A Century of Cinema), Miramax, 1994.

Himself, Sex at 24 Frames per Second (also known as Playboy Presents "Sex at 24 Frames per Second: The Ultimate Journey through Sex in Cinema"), Playboy Entertainment Group/Image Entertainment, 2003.

Himself, Waar is mijn jas? (short documentary), Rotterdam Films, 2004.

Himself, Nou, dat was het dan!, Contact Film, 2005.

Television Executive Producer; Series:

Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles (animated; also known as Starship Troopers: The Series), syndicated, 1999-2000, Sci-Fi Channel, 2000.

Television Director; Miniseries:

Soldaat van Oranje (also known as Voor koningin en vaderland), [the Netherlands], 1977.

Television Director; Specials:

Portret van Anton Adriaan Mussert (documentary; also known as Mussert), [the Netherlands], 1968.

Voorbij, voorbij (also known as All Things Pass), [the Netherlands], 1979.

Television Director; Episodic:

Floris, [the Netherlands], multiple episodes in 1969.

"Last Scene," The Hitchhiker (also known as Le voyageur), HBO, 1986.

Footage from Verhoeven's films has appeared in various television programs.

Television Work; Other; Episodic:

Provider of still photographs, "Sharon Stone: Fearless," Biography (also known as A&E Biography: Sharon Stone), Arts and Entertainment, 2003.

Television Appearances; Series:

Himself, Allemaal film (documentary; also known as All Film), [the Netherlands], 2007.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Himself, "The Films That Shocked Britain" segment, X-Rated (documentary), Channel 5 (England), 2004.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Himself, The Making of "RoboCop," 1987.

Himself, The Making of "Total Recall," 1990.

Himself, Brave New Worlds: The Science Fiction Phenomenon (also known as Brave New Worlds), Channel 4 (England) and PBS, 1993.

Himself, The Making of "Showgirls" (also known as Showgirls: Behind the Scenes), 1995.

Himself, Masters of Fantasy: Paul Verhoeven, Sci-Fi Channel, 1997.

Himself, Kurosawa: The Last Emperor, Independent Film Channel, 1999.

The Inside Reel: Digital Filmmaking, PBS, 2001.

Himself, Soldaat van Oranje Revisited, 2002.

Himself, The Blockbuster Imperative, TRIO, 2003.

Himself, Celebrity Naked Ambition, Channel 5 (England), 2003.

Himself, The 100 Greatest Sexy Moments, Channel 4 (England), 2003.

Himself, Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, Independent Film Channel, 2004.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Himself, "Follies Bergere," Eurotrash, Channel 4 (England), 1993.

Himself, Videofilmen, 1995.

Himself, "Paul Verhoeven: From Holland to Hollywood," Omnibus, BBC, 1996.

Himself, "Sharon Stone," The E! True Hollywood Story (also known as Sharon Stone: The E! True Hollywood Story and THS), E! Entertainment Television, 1998.

Himself, "Joe Eszterhas," The E! True Hollywood Story (also known as Joe Eszterhas: The E! True Hollywood Story and THS), E! Entertainment Television, 1999.

Himself, "‘Hollow Man’: Anatomy of a Thriller," HBO First Look, HBO, 2000.

Himself, "Sharon Stone," Style Star, Style Network, 2003.

Himself, "Sharon Stone: Fearless," Biography (also known as A&E Biography: Sharon Stone), Arts and Entertainment, 2003.

Himself, Pulse, Fox, 2004.

Himself, "Filmmontage: Op het scherp van de snede," Close-up, AVRO Television (the Netherlands), Belgische Radio and Televisie (Belgium), and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF, Germany), 2005.

Himself, De wereld draait door, [the Netherlands], 2006.

Himself, Film '07 (also known as Film 2007, Film of the Year, and The Film Programme), BBC, 2007.

Himself, Quelli che … il calcio, 2007.

RECORDINGS

Video Director:

(Director of "Starship Trooper" music video) Sarah Brightman: Diva, Angel Records, 2006.

Videos:

Himself, Shooting "RoboCop," 1987, also released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, 2004.

Himself, Film Music Masters: Jerry Goldsmith, Karlin/Tilford Productions, 1995.

Himself, Fleshing out the "Hollow Man," Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2000.

Himself, Hollow Man: Anatomy of a Thriller, Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2000.

Himself, Blonde Poison: The Making of "Basic Instinct," Artisan Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, Flesh + Steel: The Making of "RoboCop," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists Home Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, Imagining "Total Recall," Artisan Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, Death from Above: The Making of "Starship Troopers," Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2002.

Himself (director), Know Your Foe, Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2002.

Himself, The Starships of Starship Troopers, Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2002.

Himself, The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, Warner Home Video, 2004.

Himself, Zwartboek: The Making of., 2006.

Music Video Director:

Directed the Sarah Brightman music video "Starship Trooper."

Video Game Executive Producer:

Starship Troopers, Empire Interactive, 2005.

WRITINGS

Screenplays:

De worstelaar (short film; also known as The Wrestler), 1970.

(With Gerard Soeteman and Kees Holierhoek) Soldaat van Oranje (also known as Soldier of Orange, Soldier of the Queen, Soldiers, and Survival Run; based on a book by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema), Tuschinski Film Distribution, 1977, subtitled version released by International Picture Show, 1979, other editions also released.

(With Soeteman) Flesh+Blood (also known as Flesh + Blood, The Rose and the Sword, and Los senores del acero), Cannon Tuschinski Film Distribution/Orion, 1985.

(With Soeteman) Azazel (also known as The Winter Queen; based on a novel by Boris Akunin), Verhoeven originally wrote screenplay in 2002, film released by Parallel Media/Seven Arts Pictures/TPA Film, 2009.

Zwartboek (also known as Black Book), A-Film Distribution, 2006.

Some sources state that Verhoeven wrote other screenplays, including The Source, White Trash, and Untitled Jesus Project.

Teleplays; Miniseries:

(With Gerard Soeteman and Kees Holierhoek) Soldaat van Oranje (also known as Voor koningin en vaderland; based on a book by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema), [the Netherlands], 1977.

Moviebooks:

(With Douglas Kirkland) Showgirls: A Portrait of a Film, Newmarket Press, 1995.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Bouineau, Jean-Marc, Paul Verhoeven—Beyond Flesh and Blood, SpartOrange, 1994.

Cowie, Peter, Dutch Cinema: An Illustrated History (also known as Dutch Cinema), Tantivy Press/A. S. Barnes, 1979.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, fourth edition, St. James Press, 2000.

Keesey, Douglas and Paul Duncan, editors, Paul Verhoeven, Taschen, 2005.

Van Scheers, Rob, Paul Verhoeven (also known as Paul Verhoeven—De geautoriseerde biografie), Bijleveld, 1996, translated by Aletta Stevens, Faber & Faber, 1997.

Periodicals:

Advocate, September 19, 1995, pp. 49-50, 52.

American Film, October, 1987.

Artforum International, summer, 2000, p. 150.

Cinefantastique, June, 1967.

Empire, February, 1998, pp. 74-81; November, 2000, pp. 116-18, 120.

Film Comment, July/August, 1990, p. 24.

Films and Filming, July/August, 1990.

Jerusalem Post, December 20, 1996.

Los Angeles, November, 1997, p. 34.

Movieline, October, 1995, pp. 56-60, 87.

Premiere, July, 2003, pp. 68-69.

Request, July, 2001, p. 44.

Starlog, September, 1987, pp. 36-39; August, 1990; February, 1996; December, 1997.

Sun-Times (Chicago), November 2, 1997.

Time Out (London), April 22, 1992; December 17, 1997.

Time Out New York, November 13, 1997.

Times (London), January 7, 1996.

Total Film, February, 1998, pp. 52-59; October, 2000, pp. 68-71.

Urban Cinefile, September 3, 2000.

Variety, July 4, 1990, p. 3; April 13, 1992; May 22, 1995, p. 2.

Washington Post, March 20, 1992.

VERHOEVEN, Paul

Nationality: Dutch. Born: Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1938. Education: Ph.D. in mathematics and physics, University of Leiden. Military Service: Royal Dutch Navy. Career: Documentary and feature film writer and director. Awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, for Soldier of Orange, 1979; Best Foreign Language Film, Los Angeles Film Critics, International Award, Toronto Film Festival, and Jury Prize, Avoriaz, for The Fourth Man, 1979. Agent: Marion Rosenberg, 8428 Melrose Place, Los Angeles, CA 90069, U.S.A.

Films as Director:

1960

A Lizard Too Much (Een Hagedis Teveel)

1963

Let's Have a Party (Feest)

1966

The Dutch Marine Corps (Hets Korps Mariniers)

1971

Business Is Business (Wat Zein Ik)

1973

Turkish Delight

1975

Cathy Tippel (Keejte Tippel)

1979

The Fourth Man (De Vierde Man); Soldier of Orange (+ sc)

1980

Spetters

1985

Flesh and Blood (+ sc)

1987

Robocop

1990

Total Recall

1992

Basic Instinct

1995

Showgirls

1997

Starship Troopers

2000

Hollow Man

Publications

By VERHOEVEN: book—

Showgirls: Portrait of a Film, New Market Press, 1995.

By VERHOEVEN: articles—

"On Dangerous Ground," an interview with M. Valen, in Films andFilming (London), July-August 1990.

"Sex Crimes: Divide and Conquer," an interview with Steve Grant and Alex McGregor, in Time Out (London), 22 April 1992.

"It's Life, Jim . . ." an interview with Dominic Wells, in Time Out (London), 17–31 December 1997.

On VERHOEVEN: books—

Cowie, Peter, Dutch Cinema, London, 1979.

Van Scheers, Rob, Paul Verhoeven, New York, 1997.

On VERHOEVEN: articles—

Cronenworth, Brian, "Man of Iron," in American Film (Washington, D.C.), October 1987.

Baron, David, "Total Director Recalls His Troubles at Home," in Times-Picayune, 9 June 1990.

Welkos, Robert W., "Director Trims Basic Instinct to Get R Rating," in Los Angeles Times, 11 February 1992.

Harrington, Richard, "Director Verhoeven Standing by the Films That Gays Bash," in Washington Post, 20 March 1992.

Fleming, Charles, "No Hardcore Instinct, Says Verhoeven," in Variety (New York), 13 April 1992.

"Special Issue," Post Script (Commerce), Summer 1993.

Bond, J., "Basil's Battle of the Bugs," in Film Score Monthly, no. 8, 1997.

Kelleher, E., "Insects in Space," in Film Journal (New York), September 1997.

Persons, D., in Cinefantastique (Forest Park), no. 8, 1997.

Williamson, D., "Starship Troopers," in Cinefantastique (Forest Park), no. 8, 1997.

Williamson, K., "War Path," in Boxoffice (Chicago), November 1997.

Paul Verhoeven, a director of international acclaim who has achieved both critical and commercial success, is also one of Hollywood's most controversial. His films, characterized stylistically by his use of deep focus, Christian iconography, and sensuous mise en scène, are perhaps better known for their graphic representations of violence and sexuality.

Verhoeven began his filmmaking career as a director of short subjects and, while serving with the Royal Dutch Navy, documentaries. After returning to civilian life, he continued to work with both fiction and documentary forms, expanding his scope to television. Though his first feature-length motion picture, Business Is Business (1971), was a commercial success, Verhoeven did not receive international attention until the release of his second feature, Turkish Delight (1973).

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Turkish Delight not only established Verhoeven as a skilled director, it also began his association with films of explicit sexual content. He continued to receive international critical acclaim with the release of Soldier of Orange (1979), which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and was named Best Foreign-Language Film by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Graphic acts of sex and violence were also integral to his two subsequent films: Spetters (1980), a film about teenage alienation in Holland; and The Fourth Man (1984), winner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Foreign-Language Film, the Toronto Film Festival's International Award, and the Jury Prize at Avoriaz.

Controversy surrounding Verhoeven's work became more heated with his move to the United States in 1986. His first American feature, Flesh and Blood, started a long-running battle between the director and Jack Valenti's Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating authority. Flesh and Blood's brutal depictions of sixteenth-century battles and candid sex scenes began a battle over ratings that would continue through Verhoeven's next three features.

Considered one of the most violent films of 1987, Robocop, a post-modernist blend of science fiction, action-adventure, and the Western, is often viewed as a critique of corporate and consumer capitalism. Verhoeven's subsequent film, Total Recall (1990), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is one of the most expensive feature films ever produced. The negative cost and worldwide marketing budget has been estimated to be over $100 million. Both these films were given the highly restrictive rating of "X"—prohibited to viewers under the age of seventeen—due to what was judged to be excessive violence. The films were then re-edited to meet the requirements of the "R" rating—under seventeen admitted with the accompaniment of an adult.

Perhaps the most controversial film of Verhoeven's career is Basic Instinct, released in 1992. The story, with a $3 million script written by Joe Eszterhas, concerned a bi-sexual woman suspected of several murders who engages in a sexual relationship with the male police detective investigating the crimes. The MPAA again found Verhoeven's work problematic on the grounds of both sex and violence. Basic Instinct was only the second release from a major studio to receive a rating of "NC-17"—no children under seventeen admitted (the first was Henry and June, directed by Philip Kaufman). Like the X, which was abolished in 1990, an NC-17 rating threatens the economic viability of a motion picture at the box office. Many theaters refuse to screen the films, community presses and television stations may reject advertisements, and some video rental outlets will not carry films thus rated. Again, the film was cut to meet the standards of an R rating.

In addition to the ratings controversy, the film was protested by several national gay and lesbian organizations for its stereotypical representations of lesbians and bi-sexuals. The film was criticized because, like many films of the period, it depicted sexual relations outside of the traditional heterosexual marriage as excessive and dangerous, linking homosexuality with violence.

Verhoeven was reunited with the creative team behind the commercially successful Basic Instinct in 1995 with the production of Showgirls. It was a landmark film, as Verhoeven became the first director in the United States hired by a major motion picture studio to deliver a film without the obligation of achieving an R rating. Showgirls was released with an NC-17 rating and generated considerable interest, but generally negative reviews.

—Frances Gateward