“if i tell that story often enough, i’ll start to believe it myself. and that, i think, is the essence of my work. i lie the truth. until i no longer know whether something did or did not happen”
after watching the camp masterpiece that’s a sharp critique on the damage capitalism causes, and the darker, misogynistic side of entertainment industries: showgirls, i knew i had to watch more paul verhoeven directed, especially because showgirls is one of the best movies of all time, and ill honestly die on that hill. looking at the rest of his filmography, i really didn’t know what exact direction to go in, as i thought nothing could possibly top the 1995 cult classic. on one side were the mainstream psychological thrillers/sci-fi actions: such as basic instinct or robocop, films with the most global recognition and influence, and while they were definitely a good shout: the other side of verhoevens earlier career of dutch films just seemed more enhancing, especially ‘the 4th man’, which has been in my watchlist for a while now, but probably also reinforces my personal opinion that artwork for film is massively important in my need to watch it, i mean the cover alone for this movie deserves 5 stats by its self. the checkered background, the blood-coloured red that almost looks hypnotic. from the beginning, i just knew that this was something id totally dig, and i really need a thousand more movies like this honestly. ‘the 4th man’ follows an alcoholic, bisexual writer to give a speech. he’s plagued by religious hallucinations and dark premonitions. he is invited to the hotel of femme fatale, christine, who he forms a sexual relationship with. as the story progresses: more is revealed, where christine’s three previous husbands all tragically died in certain accidents, which rightfully rises suspicions from gerard. provocative themes of sexuality are shown through gerard gaining infatuation with christine’s alive husband, herman, this love-triangle is highly ahead of its time: pushing boundaries with its homo-erotic lens on the thriller genre, and includes some amazing bisexual representation. there’s so much i could possibly talk about when evaluating the complete genius of ‘the 4th man’, and one of the reasons why i love it so much is through the visuals or cinematography. it uses dreamy, almost foggy imagery to create dread, and to put you in the paranoid perspective of the alcoholic protagonists descent into insanity. one thing driving this man’s paranoia is his constant religious hallucinations, with catholic crosses, and a homo-erotic look onto jesus christ - which caused obvious controversy. all these symbolising his possible religious trauma as he lives a ‘sinful’ life of substance abuse and his bisexual tendencies. all this causes a massive surreal feeling to this twisted thriller, which is also amazing. the performances are quite elevated considering how this is a lot lower-budget than his later work, these actors aren’t particularly well regarded or internationally famous, but they do really well with the material they have to work with. the leading male actor almost causes sympathy for the dishevelled, alcoholic writer, and the female actress was a true highlight, as she shows a perfect portrayal of 40s femme fatale. this movie is fully up to interpretation with its constant heavy-handed symbolism. while christine is presented as a ‘black widow’, as she’s accused of murdering her previous husbands in cold blood: and while that could be true, it’s never really confirmed. she could be a supernatural seductress, but we see everything through the protagonist who abuses substances, and he has a clear bias outlook. possibly this is all a result of his paranoia and religious trauma? i honestly could believe either way. this is a revolutionary european arthouse classic that reinforces my perception that verhoeven is one of the best directors of all time, even before his hollywood days.
“if i tell that story often enough, i’ll start to believe it myself. and that, i think, is the essence of my work. i lie the truth. until i no longer know whether something did or did not happen”
after watching the camp masterpiece that’s a sharp critique on the damage capitalism causes, and the darker, misogynistic side of entertainment industries: showgirls, i knew i had to watch more paul verhoeven directed, especially because showgirls is one of the best movies of all time, and ill honestly die on that hill. looking at the rest of his filmography, i really didn’t know what exact direction to go in, as i thought nothing could possibly top the 1995 cult classic. on one side were the mainstream psychological thrillers/sci-fi actions: such as basic instinct or robocop, films with the most global recognition and influence, and while they were definitely a good shout: the other side of verhoevens earlier career of dutch films just seemed more enhancing, especially ‘the 4th man’, which has been in my watchlist for a while now, but probably also reinforces my personal opinion that artwork for film is massively important in my need to watch it, i mean the cover alone for this movie deserves 5 stats by its self. the checkered background, the blood-coloured red that almost looks hypnotic. from the beginning, i just knew that this was something id totally dig, and i really need a thousand more movies like this honestly. ‘the 4th man’ follows an alcoholic, bisexual writer to give a speech. he’s plagued by religious hallucinations and dark premonitions. he is invited to the hotel of femme fatale, christine, who he forms a sexual relationship with. as the story progresses: more is revealed, where christine’s three previous husbands all tragically died in certain accidents, which rightfully rises suspicions from gerard. provocative themes of sexuality are shown through gerard gaining infatuation with christine’s alive husband, herman, this love-triangle is highly ahead of its time: pushing boundaries with its homo-erotic lens on the thriller genre, and includes some amazing bisexual representation. there’s so much i could possibly talk about when evaluating the complete genius of ‘the 4th man’, and one of the reasons why i love it so much is through the visuals or cinematography. it uses dreamy, almost foggy imagery to create dread, and to put you in the paranoid perspective of the alcoholic protagonists descent into insanity. one thing driving this man’s paranoia is his constant religious hallucinations, with catholic crosses, and a homo-erotic look onto jesus christ - which caused obvious controversy. all these symbolising his possible religious trauma as he lives a ‘sinful’ life of substance abuse and his bisexual tendencies. all this causes a massive surreal feeling to this twisted thriller, which is also amazing. the performances are quite elevated considering how this is a lot lower-budget than his later work, these actors aren’t particularly well regarded or internationally famous, but they do really well with the material they have to work with. the leading male actor almost causes sympathy for the dishevelled, alcoholic writer, and the female actress was a true highlight, as she shows a perfect portrayal of 40s femme fatale. this movie is fully up to interpretation with its constant heavy-handed symbolism. while christine is presented as a ‘black widow’, as she’s accused of murdering her previous husbands in cold blood: and while that could be true, it’s never really confirmed. she could be a supernatural seductress, but we see everything through the protagonist who abuses substances, and he has a clear bias outlook. possibly this is all a result of his paranoia and religious trauma? i honestly could believe either way. this is a revolutionary european arthouse classic that reinforces my perception that verhoeven is one of the best directors of all time, even before his hollywood days.
