Paul Verhoeven (Taschen Film) [Paperback]

Douglas Keesey (Author), Paul Duncan (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Taschen Film | Publication Date: May 1, 2005

Known for always pushing the envelope when it comes to showing sex and violence on screen, Paul Verhoeven has directed controversial films in several genres, including the erotic thriller (Basic Instinct), melodrama (Showgirls) and science fiction (RoboCop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Hollow Man). However, even before going to Hollywood, Verhoeven had been a succ's de scandale in his native Netherlands, where he directed a war saga (Soldier of Orange), a medieval epic (Flesh+Blood), a psychosexual thriller (The Fourth Man) and a sex comedy (Turkish Delight, which was voted Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival). Verhoeven has shown that visceral thrills can be thought provoking, challenging our received notions of heroism, patriotism, and eroticism. He has created some of the most courageous and contentious films of recent years. Made with full access to Paul Verhoeven's archives!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"As a director, my goal is to be completely open. Just look at how I portray sex in my films. They're considered shocking and obscene because I like to carefully examine human sexuality. It has to be realistic." Paul Verhoeven"

About the Author

Douglas Keesey was educated at U.C. Berkeley (B.A.) and Princeton (Ph.D.). He has published books on Don DeLillo (Twayne), along with essays on Thomas Pynchon, James Dickey, Stephen King and Peter Weir. He is a professor of film and literature at California Polytechnic State University. Keesey is also the author of TASCHEN's Erotic Cinema.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Taschen (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822831018
• ISBN-13: 978-3822831014
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,003,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for fans, February 7, 2009

By 

EMqube "qube" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Verhoeven (Taschen Film) (Paperback)

Great book on all of his works, from his early films in the Netherlands, all the way up through the repulsively awful 'Hollow Man'. If you're a fan, this is a fantastic compendium to his films, with some great pictures and original script pages. The critiques are hit or miss, but the information is pretty solid. Recommended for fans, but would probably be really dull if you aren't a fan.

Some really interesting behind-the-scenes stuff on his Hollywood films that make for great reading for fans of 'Robocop', 'Total Recall', 'Basic Instinct', 'Showgirls' and others.

It's kind of cool to read the statistical data on the individual films as well. Things like box office take domestically versus globally, cost of production, etc.

If you're a Verhoeven fan, you will probably enjoy this, others need not apply though.

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Director, November 21, 2010

By 

Jetpack - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paul Verhoeven (Taschen Film) (Paperback)

These Taschen books have a reputation for being coffee table books. They contain great images, so this is justified.
But they also combine pretty good words to accompany the images, and this edition on Verhoeven is no different.

The written information in this book is both informative and interesting (if you are interested in cinema that is), and while it is not loaded with academic insight (look somewhere else if that's what your after) it is full up with a chronological time line about the Dutch films and Hollywood films Verhoeven has made - as well as an insight into what made this guy into the ultra violent, sex minded director he is.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars you are under arrest: buy this book!, January 12, 2006

By 

Joey Fernandez "joeypogi" (Makati) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Verhoeven (Taschen Film) (Paperback)

basically unreadable, but to join verhoeven with the ranks of kubrick, hitchcock and fellini is just pure genius. and oh the pictures are really nice.