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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

De Vierde Man (aka The Fourth Man) (1983)

A burnt out alcoholic writer (Jeroen Krabbe) sees a handsome young man (Thom Hoffman) in an Amsterdam train station and becomes obsessed with him to the point of following him although he eventually loses him. When after delivering a lecture at a literature society, he spends the night with a beautiful woman (Renee Soutendijk), he discovers the young man is her lover. He connives to have her invite him for the week as he plans to seduce the young man. But what he discovers about her in the meantime is either crazy ... or he is. Before he went to Hollywood to make such dubious films as SHOW GIRLS and STARSHIP TROOPERS, director Paul Verhoeven directed this clever and wicked "black widow" thriller. Crammed with more symbolism than you'll rarely find outside of an Ingmar Bergman movie, the movie is an often ingenious and witty puzzle whose clues we try to unravel. I'm not sure it has much to actually say but Verhoeven knows that the chase is half the fun. Krabbe is marvelous as the decadent writer taking unbridled pleasure in his own calculated impertinence. Though some of its Christian imagery may offend the more conservative or religious audience, for the more open minded, it's a hell of a rollercoaster ride. The lensing is by Jan De Bont (DIE HARD) and there's a wonderfully atmospheric underscore by Loek Dikker.

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