Paul Verhoeven Filmmaking in the United States (1983-2000) What was the first film he did in the US? Flesh and Blood (1985), What genre of films did he make? big-budget, very violent, special-effects-heavy smashes What year did his first film debut? first American film, Flesh and Blood (1985),
Who starred in his first film in the US?
Who starred in Paul Verhoeven's first film in the US?
Gerard Soeteman also wrote the script for Verhoeven's first American film, Flesh and Blood (1985), which starred Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Verhoeven moved to Hollywood for a wider range of opportunities in filmmaking. Working in the U.S. he made a serious change in style, directing big-budget, very violent, special-effects-heavy smashes RoboCop and Total Recall. RoboCop, for Sound Effects Editing, and Total Recall, for Visual Effects, each won an Academy Special Achievement Award. Verhoeven followed those successes with the equally intense and provocative Basic Instinct (1992), an erotic thriller. The ninth-highest-grossing film of the year, the movie was a return to themes Verhoeven had explored in Turkish Delight and The Fourth Man. The film's most notorious scene shows Sharon Stone's character in a police interrogation, where she uncrosses her legs, briefly revealing her vulva (she does not wear underwear underneath her skirt). The film received two Academy Awards nominations, for Film Editing and for Original Music. Verhoeven's next film was the poorly received, NC-17 rated Showgirls (1995), about a stripper in Las Vegas trying to make a career as a showgirl. The film won seven Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Film and Worst Director; Verhoeven became the first director to accept his "award" in person. Afterward, the film enjoyed success on the home video market, generating more than $100 million from video rentals  and became one of MGM's top 20 all-time bestsellers. After Basic Instinct and Showgirls, Verhoeven returned to the science fiction, graphic violence, and special-effects tropes that had marked his earlier films with Starship Troopers (1997), loosely based on the novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein and Hollow Man (2000). Each film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. CANNOTANSWER
starred Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director and screenwriter active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire are trademarks of both his drama and science fiction films. 

After receiving attention for the TV series Floris in his native Netherlands, Verhoeven got his film breakthrough with romantic drama Turkish Delight (1973), starring frequent collaborator Rutger Hauer. The film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and later received the award for Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival. Verhoeven later directed successful Dutch films including the period drama Keetje Tippel (1975), the war film Soldier of Orange (1977), the teen drama Spetters (1980) and the psychological thriller The Fourth Man (1983). 

In 1985, Verhoeven made his first Hollywood film Flesh and Blood and later had a successful career in the United States, directing science fiction films such as RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000), as well as the erotic thriller Basic Instinct (1992).

He later returned to Europe, making the Dutch war film Black Book (2006), French psychological thriller Elle (2016), and most recently, the religious drama Benedetta (2021), all receiving positive reviews. Black Book and Elle were both nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and Elle won Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and César Award for Best Film. Black Book was also voted by the Dutch public, in 2008, as the best Dutch film ever made. In contrast, he won the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Director for Showgirls (1995); he is one of the few people to have accepted their Golden Raspberry awards in person, and was the first person to go to the ceremony to receive it. The film was a notorious flop in its initial release but later gained a cult following. Verhoeven's films altogether received a total of nine Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects.

Early life
Paul Verhoeven was born in Amsterdam on 18 July 1938, the son of a school teacher, Wim Verhoeven, and a hat maker, Nel van Schaardenburg. His family lived in the village of Slikkerveer.

In 1943 the family moved to The Hague, the location of the German headquarters in the Netherlands during World War II. The Verhoeven house was near a German military base with V1 and V2-rocket launchers, which was repeatedly bombed by Allied forces. Their neighbours' house was hit and Verhoeven's parents were almost killed when bombs fell on a street crossing. From this period, Verhoeven mentioned in interviews, he remembers images of violence, burning houses, dead bodies on the street, and continuous danger. As a small child he experienced the war as an exciting adventure and compares himself with the character Bill Rowan in Hope and Glory (1987).

Verhoeven's father became head teacher at the Van Heutszschool in The Hague, and Paul attended this school. Sometimes the pair watched informative films at home with the school's film projector. Verhoeven and his father also liked to see American films that were in the cinema after the liberation, such as The Crimson Pirate (1952).

Verhoeven and his father went ten times to see The War of the Worlds (1953). Verhoeven was a fan of the Dutch comic Dick Bos. The character Dick Bos is a private detective who fights crime using jujutsu. Verhoeven liked comic drawing; he created The Killer, a character in a detailed story of revenge. Other fiction he liked were Frankenstein and the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series.

Verhoeven attended public secondary school Gymnasium Haganum in The Hague. Later, beginning in 1955, he studied at Leiden University. Verhoeven graduated with a doctorandus (MSc) with a double major, in Mathematics and Physics.

Career

Short films and TV series (1960–1969)
Verhoeven made his first film Één hagedis teveel ("One Lizard Too Many") for the anniversary of his students' corps in 1960. In his last years at university Verhoeven also attended classes at the Netherlands Film Academy. After this he made three more short films: Nothing Special (1961), The Hitchhikers (1962), and Let's Have a Party (1963).

Verhoeven has not professionally used his mathematics and physics degree, opting instead to invest his energies in a career in film. After his studies he entered the Royal Dutch Navy as a conscript. He made the documentary Het Korps Mariniers ("The Marine Corps", 1965), which won the French Golden Sun award for military films.

In 1967 Verhoeven married Martine Tours, with whom he had two daughters, Claudia (b. 1972), and Helen (b. 1974).

When he left the Navy, Verhoeven took his skills to Dutch television. First, he made a documentary about Anton Mussert named Mussert (1968). His first major success was the 1969 Floris television series, starring Rutger Hauer. The concept of Floris was inspired by foreign series like Ivanhoe and Thierry La Fronde.

First feature films (1969–1983)
Verhoeven's first feature film Business Is Business was released in 1971 and was not well received. His first national success came in 1973 with Turkish Delight, starring Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven. This film is based on a novel by bestselling Dutch author Jan Wolkers and tells the passionate love story of an artist and a young liberal girl from a conservative background. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1974. In 1999 the film won a Golden Calf for Best Dutch Film of the Century. Verhoeven's 1975 film Katie Tippel again featured Hauer and van de Ven, but it would not match the success of Turkish Delight.

Verhoeven built on his reputation and achieved international success with his Golden Globe nominated film Soldier of Orange, starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé. The film, based on a true story about the Dutch resistance in World War II, was written by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema. Soldier of Orange received the 1979 LA Film Critics Award for best foreign language film. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe in 1980.

The Seattle Times praised Verhoeven by saying, "director Paul Verhoeven often appears to be a one-man Dutch movie industry," while The San Diego Union-Tribune called Verhoeven "a busy bee whose movies pollinate the festival circuit."

In 1980 Verhoeven made the film Spetters with Renée Soutendijk and Rutger Hauer. The story is sometimes compared to Saturday Night Fever, but the film has more explicit violence and sexuality (in this case also homosexuality), which are sometimes seen as the trademarks of Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven's film The Fourth Man (1983) is a horror film starring Jeroen Krabbé and Renée Soutendijk. It was written by Gerard Soeteman from a novel by the Dutch writer Gerard Reve. This film would be Verhoeven's last Dutch film production until the 2006 film Black Book.

Filmmaking in the United States (1983–2000)
Gerard Soeteman also wrote the script for Verhoeven's first English-language film, Flesh and Blood (1985), which starred Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Verhoeven moved to Hollywood for a wider range of opportunities in filmmaking. Working in the U.S., he made a serious change in style, directing big-budget, violent, special-effects-heavy hits RoboCop and Total Recall⁠—each of which won an Academy Special Achievement Award: RoboCop for Sound Effects Editing, and Total Recall for Visual Effects.

Verhoeven followed those successes with the equally intense and provocative Basic Instinct (1992), an erotic thriller. The ninth-highest-grossing film of the year, the movie was a return to themes Verhoeven had explored in Turkish Delight and The Fourth Man. The film's most notorious scene shows Sharon Stone's character in a police interrogation, where she uncrosses her legs, briefly revealing her vulva (she does not wear underwear underneath her skirt). The film received two Academy Awards nominations, for Film Editing and for Original Music.

During this time, Verhoeven also worked on creating an historical epic based around the Crusades that would have starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film entered pre-production in 1993, but a year later the studio backing the film (Carolco) pulled funding for the project. Verhoeven would continue to discuss the film throughout the 1990s.

Verhoeven's next film was the poorly-received, NC-17 rated Showgirls (1995), about a stripper in Las Vegas trying to make a career as a showgirl. The film won seven Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Film and Worst Director; Verhoeven became the first director to accept his award in person. Afterward, the film enjoyed success on the home video market, generating more than $100 million from video rentals and became one of MGM's top 20 all-time bestsellers.

After Basic Instinct and Showgirls, Verhoeven returned to the science fiction, graphic violence and special-effects tropes that had marked his earlier films with Starship Troopers (1997), loosely based on the novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein, and Hollow Man (2000). Each film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Return to Europe (2006–present)
After about 20 years of working and living in the United States, Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands for the shooting of a new film. Together with his screenwriter Gerard Soeteman, Verhoeven made Black Book (2006). The director was hailed by the host of the Netherlands Film Festival with the words "The return of a hero". Black Book won six Golden Calves at this festival, including Best Director. When the shooting of Black Book was delayed due to financial issues, there was speculation about a new production. The film Beast of Bataan had been announced, but once the shooting for Black Book resumed, the other film was not realized.

Verhoeven was knighted in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2007.

Since Black Book, Verhoeven has been connected to a large number of projects, but in the first decade after his return, none came to fruition. Some of those titles were produced with other directors at the helm, such as The Paperboy. In 2016, however, Verhoeven followed Black Book by directing a French film: Elle, an adaptation of a novel by Philippe Djian. A psycho-thriller where Isabelle Huppert plays a rape victim, Elle was selected for the Official Competition at the Cannes International Film Festival, where it obtained very favourable reviews.

In December 2016, it was announced that Verhoeven would be the president of the jury for the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, scheduled to take place in February 2017.

In April 2017, Benedetta, his next French film, was announced to begin filming in August of the same year. It is a biographical film about the life of Benedetta Carlini, portrayed by Elle co-star Virginie Efira, and is an adaptation of the non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown. In May 2018, Charlotte Rampling was announced to play a key supporting role. The film premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or.

Other activities
Verhoeven was a member of the Jesus Seminar, and he was the only member who does not have a degree in biblical studies. He graduated with a degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Leiden. Since he is not a professional biblical exegete, his membership in the Jesus Seminar has occasionally been cited by opponents of the Seminar as a sign that this group is less scholarly than it claims. For example, Luke Timothy Johnson criticizes the Jesus Seminar's methods on exegetical grounds, and also criticizes what he perceives to be a dependence on the theatrical and an attempt to manipulate the mainstream media. He singles out Verhoeven as a key player in the media activities of the Jesus Seminar. On the other hand, some Jesus Seminar members were unhappy with Verhoeven's portrayal of Jesus as an eschatological prophet.

In 2007, Verhoeven wrote the book Jesus of Nazareth () about the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The book reviews the ideas of Jesus of Nazareth and the alleged corruption of these same ideas over the last 2,000 years. Co-written with Verhoeven's biographer Rob Van Scheers, the book is the culmination of the research Verhoeven conducted in preparation for Jesus: The Man, a motion picture about the life of Christ. The book tells about the Jewish uprising against Roman rule and characterizes Jesus as a radical political activist, downplaying any supernatural events and miracles as unproved or unprovable. Jesus of Nazareth: A Realistic Portrait was released in September 2008 in Dutch and was published in English in May 2010 by Seven Stories Press.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Golden Globe Awards

BAFTA Awards

César Awards

Saturn Awards

Golden Raspberry Awards

References

External links

 
 
 

1938 births
20th-century Dutch male writers
21st-century Dutch male writers
Action film directors
Best Director Lumières Award winners
Cultural critics
Dutch critics
Dutch documentary film directors
Dutch documentary film producers
Dutch documentary filmmakers
Dutch expatriates in the United States
Dutch film directors
Dutch film producers
Dutch male screenwriters
Dutch screenwriters
Dutch television critics
Dutch television directors
Dutch television producers
French-language film directors
German-language film directors
Golden Calf winners
Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Leiden University alumni
Living people
Male television writers
Royal Netherlands Navy personnel
Science fiction film directors
Video game producers
Mass media people from The Hague
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Members of the Jesus Seminar
Joaquin Phoenix is an American actor who started his career performing as a child on television. He appeared on the shows Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982) and Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984) with his brother River Phoenix and on an episode of Murder, She Wrote (1984) with his sister Summer Phoenix. He made his feature film debut in SpaceCamp (1986) and had his first starring role in Russkies (1987). His first major film release was Ron Howard's dramedy Parenthood (1989) with Steve Martin. During his period as a child actor, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, his self-given name. Six years later, he changed his name back to Joaquin and co-starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the Gus Van Sant-directed crime comedy-drama To Die For (1995), a critical hit. In 1997, Phoenix co-starred in Oliver Stone's crime thriller U Turn opposite Sean Penn and starred opposite Liv Tyler in the coming-of-age film Inventing the Abbotts. Phoenix starred in the crime-comedy film Clay Pigeons (1998), Return to Paradise (1998) followed by a role in the crime mystery thriller 8mm (1999) with Nicolas Cage. Phoenix's first role in 2000 was in his first collaboration with director James Gray in the crime film The Yards. He followed this with supporting roles in the Ridley Scott-directed historical epic Gladiator (2000) opposite Russell Crowe and as priest Abbé de Coulmier in the Philip Kaufman-directed period film Quills (2000), opposite Geoffrey Rush. For his role as the villain Commodus in the former, Phoenix earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The following year he starred in a satire of the US military, Buffalo Soldiers (2001). Phoenix starred opposite Mel Gibson in the science fiction thriller Signs (2002), a massive commercial success. He starred in the romance-drama It's All About Love (2003) and voiced Kenai in the animated film Brother Bear. In 2004, Phoenix starred as a farmer in the psychological thriller The Village and as a Baltimore firefighter in the drama Ladder 49. He followed this with a supporting role in the historical drama film Hotel Rwanda (2004). Phoenix portrayed musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005) opposite Reese Witherspoon. Phoenix played and sang all of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack. This earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor  – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and garnered his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also narrated the animal rights documentary Earthlings (2005). This was followed by a reteam with Gray in the crime drama We Own the Night (2007) and the lead role in the drama Reservation Road (2007) opposite Mark Ruffalo. The following year, he made his third film with Gray, Two Lovers (2008) and followed this with the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010). Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career as a rapper.

Phoenix starred as a World War II veteran in the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed drama film The Master opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman. The role earned him a Volpi Cup and his second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The following year, he reteamed with Gray once again in the drama film The Immigrant opposite Marion Cotillard. Phoenix starred as a man who develops a relationship with Samantha, an intelligent computer operating system in the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science fiction film Her (2013) and starred as a private investigator when he reteamed with Anderson in the film adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel Inherent Vice (2014). Both roles earned him nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor  – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2017, his performance as the damaged savior of sex-trafficking victims in You Were Never Really Here netted him the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. In 2019, his portrayal as Arthur Fleck in the psychological thriller Joker earned him critical acclaim along with his first Academy Award for Best Actor, among other accolades.

Film

Television

Executive producer only

See also 
 List of awards and nominations received by Joaquin Phoenix

References 

Phoenix, Joaquin
Phoenix, Joaquin
Filmography This is the filmography of Hong Kong singer, actor and film producer Andy Lau.

Career summary
Lau made his film acting debut in a supporting role the 1981 film, Once Upon a Rainbow and his television acting debut in an episode of the 1981 RTHK series, Til We Meet Again, in the leading role of "Dragon". The following year, Lau played a major role in director Ann Hui's Boat People, which earned him a Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer nomination, as well as starring in the TVB series, The Emissary, which shot him to stardom. In 1983, Lau starred as "Yeung Kuo" in The Return of the Condor Heroes, which was the top rated TV series of the year in Hong Kong, further boosting his popularity throughout Asia, and landed him the opportunity to star in his first leading film role in the action drama film, On the Wrong Track in the same year. Lau left TVB in 1985 to fully concentrate in his film career and starring in multiple box office hits before earning his first Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor nomination for his role in the 1988 film, As Tears Go By, directed by Wong Kar-wai. In 1989 alone, Lau appeared in 16 films, including the top-grossing blockbuster of the year, God of Gamblers, as "Michael "Dagger" Chan", a role he would reprise in the sequel the following year.

In 1991, Lau established his own production company, Teamwork Motion Pictures, with its first production being the martial arts film, Saviour of the Soul, which Lau starred as a mercenary in the same year, being a critical and commercial success. Throughout the 1990s, Lau starred in over 50 films which include his signature role as "Wah Dee" in 1990's A Moment of Romance, the Lee Rock film series (1991) as real life corrupt officer Lui Lok, the 1992 wuxia film, Moon Warriors, the 1995 biker film, Full Throttle and the 1999 Johnnie To-directed action thriller film, Running Out of Time, which won him his first Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. In 1997, Lau also produced the Fruit Chan-directed drama film, Made in Hong Kong, which won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film.

In 2000, Lau starred as a Muay thai fighter in his 100th film, A Fighter's Blues, in which he also produced, and netted him the Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Actor. In 2002, he starred as triad mole Lau Kin-ming in the highly acclaimed crime thriller, Infernal Affairs, a film considered to have "single-handedly revived the moribund Hong Kong film industry." Infernal Affairs grossed HK$55,057,176 at the Hong Kong box office, making it Lau's highest-grossing film in Hong Kong to date, and also earned Lau a Best Actor nomination both at the Hong Kong Film Awards and at the Golden Horse Awards. The following year, Lau starred in the sequel, Infernal Affairs III, which won him the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor, and in the Buddhism-themed action thriller, Running on Karma, winning him his second Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. The same year, Lau directed and starred in his only directorial feature to date, the musical short Love Under the Sun to raise awareness about AIDS and dispel common misconceptions regarding its contagiousness. In 2004, Lau renamed his company, Teamwork Motion Pictures, to Focus Group Holdings Limited, with its first film production being the crime film, Jiang Hu, which he also produced and starred as a triad leader who is a target of an assassination hit. The same year, Lau also made his first venture in the Mainland Chinese film market, starring in the wuxia film, House of Flying Daggers, which premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, and the action drama A World without Thieves, with the two films being the second and third-highest-grossing films of the year at the Chinese box office respectively. In 2007, he played a drug lord in the crime drama film, Protégé, which won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2010, Lau played Di Renjie in Tsui Hark's Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, which was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2010 Venice Film Festival. The following year, he starred in Ann Hui 's A Simple Life, which won four awards at the 68th Venice Film Festival, as well as earning his third Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor and second Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor. In 2013, Lau produced and starred as morally-conflicted cop in the high-octane action film, Firestorm, which was also the first 3D film production he worked on. In 2016, Lau starred in his first Hollywood film, The Great Wall. In 2017, Lau produced and starred as a righteous bomb disposal officer in Shock Wave, which earned him another Best Actor nomination for at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards. He returned in 2020 in the thematic sequel, Shock Wave 2, playing a different character greatly contrasting his role from its predecessor, and the film has grossed US$226.4 million worldwide, making it Lau's highest-grossing film at the global box office to date.

Lau has received the "No.1 Box office Actor 1985–2005" award of Hong Kong in 2005, yielding a box office total of HK$1.7 billion for shooting 108 films in that period and  was also awarded the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" award by the Nielsen Company (ACNielsen) in 2007.

Films

Television series

References

 
Lau, Andy
Lau, Andy