One of the best filmmakers to come out of Europe in the 1970s, Paul Verhoeven amassed a superb portfolio of work as a director in the Netherlands. De Vierde Man is Verhoeven's sixth film – his last before moving to Hollywood – and continues, in fine form, from his masterful back catalogue. The film is a Hitchockian-like thriller, as a writer becomes involved with rich femme fatale and subsequently discovers that she's already disposed of three husbands and fears he could be the fourth man of the title. Quite a mainstream thriller then. Ha, not with Verhoeven behind the camera; there's plenty of artsy symbolism, outrageous religious imagery (seriously, the Church of Holland must've gone absolutely bonkers over the scene in the cathedral!), a gay romance sub-plot, plus the usual sex and violence to frequent Verhoeven's work – you won't see that in any blockbuster this summer! The acting from Verhoeven regular Jeroen Krabbé and Renée Soutendijk (from Spetters) is also excellent. Incidentally, Verhoeven claims to have added the symbolism to appease the Dutch film critics who mauled his previous masterpiece, Spetters, for being overly sensationalist and devoid of morals.
Review of The 4th Man
