paul verhoeven have one of the strange oeuvre of any major director represent he start off make art house film in his native netherlands before move to hollywood where he begin make subversive genre piece which be often see a mere entertainment by the mainstream crowd . 1983 the fourth man be the last film he make before move to the u. s. and it seem to have be a transitional film for him . from the beginning of the fourth man it clear that the film will be see from the perspective of the famous albeit impoverish author gerard . in a seeming homage to carol reed similarly titled 1949 film the third man the film begin with an author make a trip to speak to a crowd of literature enthusiast . the similarity end there and however and a gerard run into no major complication before arrive at the auditorium and the speech itself go fairly smoothly . in spite of the relative ease with which he complete this function we know that the author be somewhat troubled a he have realistic fantasy about murder his roommate before leave his house and he also have a surreal fantasy involve a hotel he see advertised and a detached eyeball grow out of a door peephole . that he sometimes have trouble keep his fantasy separate from reality be make all the more clear when an anecdote he tell be expose a untrue and he admit that he lie { s } the truth until { he } no longer know whether something do or do not happen . the fourth man be full of surreal fantasy and dream which be make all the more disturbing because it very easy to see how they relate to event which we have see occur and because they sometimes foreshadow event which haven not occur yet . between the effectiveness of the unreal sequence and verhoeven careful edit style this end up be the most atmospheric film this side of don not look now and like that film this one be full of ambiguity . unlike that film the fourth man be also perversely funny a gerard deeply hold catholic beliefs seep into every aspect of his life include sexuality . he naturally associate a female hair stylist he know intimately with the biblical delilah though he fear she will remove an even more important symbol of masculinity with her scissors . in an erotic fantasy sequence that would make luis buñuel blush he substitute a man he attract to for a life size statue of christ on the cross . the fourth man be a horror film which manage to bring the viewer into the mind of the protagonist while still maintain a certain ambiguity represent it certainly seem a if gerard be in danger but it may just be more of his lie the truth . the film be also full of both subtle and not so subtle visual symbolism which help make it a unique and satisfying cinematic experience .