Director Paul Verhoeven is best known
to American audiences as the director of such big-budget blockbusters as
Robocop, Total Recall, and Basic Instinct. But the Dutch
director cut his industry teeth directing a series of well-received films
in his native Netherlands, including the Oscar-nominated Turkish
Delight in 1971, and the notorious Spetters, about gay and
straight teens in the cutthroat world of motorcycle racing, in 1979.
Verhoeven's first directing job in the United States came in the form of
the 1985 U.S./Dutch production Flesh-Blood.
Many of Verhoeven's films have drawn fire from critics and audiences for their frank and often brutal portrayals of violence, sex, or both. Although "director's cut" editions of Robocop and Basic Instinct are now available intact on video, both films were severely edited by the MPAA's Ratings Board to allow for an "R" rating during their theatrical releases.
Before tackling his latest film, Showgirls, Verhoeven wanted assurances that no such cuts would have to be made. Thanks to an unusual deal with MGM/Carolco, he has become the first director in the U.S. hired by a major motion picture studio to specify in his contract that he not be obligated to deliver an R-rated movie. With the freedom to deliver an NC-17 cut, Verhoeven feels confident that Showgirls will deliver the most honest look into the Las Vegas Strip scene yet portrayed on the big screen.
Verhoeven now resides in California and considers himself an American filmmaker.
Paul Verhoeven Filmography
- Business is Business (1971)
- Turkish Delight (1973)
- Keetje Tippel (1975)
- Soldier of Orange (1979)
- Spetters (1980)
- The Fourth Man (1982)
- Flesh-Blood (1985)
- Robocop (1987)
- Total Recall (1990)
- Basic Instinct (1992)