2. Turkish Delight (1973)
Verhoeven turns his hand to a tragic romantic drama with Turkish Delight, based on the book of the same name by Jan Wolkers. Voted as the best Dutch film of all time, the film was phenomenally successful with a massive 25% of the adult Dutch population going to the cinema to see the film. I must say that I really really love this film. It's one of my first date movies - if I show it to a guy and he can't stomach it well... Welcome to Dumpsville. The film concerns Erik (a tour de force performance by Rutger Hauer) an artist who opens the film lying in a heap of filth, masturbating to a photo of a young woman shouting 'You s**t on me! You s**t on me!'. It turns out this young lady was Olga (Monique van de Ven in an outstanding performance) a sexually free spirit whom he met whilst hitchhiking (they have sex like 30 seconds after meeting). They get married and have various adventures. Olga's family never really accept Erik as he is too unstable and bohemian. Suddenly Olga's personality begins to change and she makes sexual advances towards a business man. Erik slaps her and the two part company. He later meets up with Olga who is outrageously dressed and gibbering nonsense. She is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour. Erik goes to see her in hospital and brings her Turkish Delight as it is the only food she will eat in case other food will break her teeth. She dies soon after. Turkish Delight is extremely frank in its treatment of sex and bodily functions but the movie is filmed with such great style that it never becomes offensive. The sex just looks highly realistic of what two people passionately in love would get up to. I don't see any sensationalism on the part of Verhoeven. It is a marvellous erotic love story and we are swept along by the cast's and Verhoeven's enthusiasm. The only things that I don't like: Verhoeven's sudden insertion of violent acts into the film which seems exploitative and the soundtrack, which, as my best friend said when I made her watch the film, sounds like something out of Emmerdale.