Paul Verhoeven

People seem to have this strange idea that films can influence people to be violent, but in my sincere opinion film only reflects the violence of society. Show less «

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. I really like documentaries, therefore, reality is important to me when I do fiction. It is often related to my own life, my Dutch background. The art scene in Holland has always attempted to be realistic. The Dutch painters of 400 years ago were meticulously realistic. The example I always like to use is a marvelous painting by Hieronymus Bosch titled "The Prodigal Son". It is a painting of a brothel, and in the corner is a man pissing against a wall. You would never, never find something like that in an Italian, French or English painting of that epoch. The Dutch have always been more scientific, interested in detail; certainly less idealistic and more realistic. The sex scenes in De vierde man (1983) and Turks fruit (1973) were based on real experiences I had or a friend had. It's very personal. Of course, I must admit that I love to shock audiences. Show less «

De vierde man (1983) has to do with my vision of religion. In my opinion, Christianity is nothing more than one of many interpretations of reality, neither more nor less. Ideally, it would be nice to believe that there is a God somewhere out there, but it looks to me as if the whole Christian religion is a major symptom of schizophrenia in half the world's population: civilizations scrambling to rationalize their chaotic existence. Subsequently, Christianity has a tendency to look like magic or the occult. And I liked that ambiguity, because I wanted my audience to take something home with them. I wanted them to wonder about what religion really is. Remember that Christianity is a religion grounded in one of the most violent acts of murder, the crucifixion. Otherwise, religion wouldn't have had any kind of impact. With regards to the irony of the violence, much of that probably comes from my childhood experiences during and immediately following the Second World War. In fact, if it hadn't been for the German occupation and then the American occupation, I would have never been a filmmaker. Show less «

The sooner we admit our capacity for evil the less apt we are to destroy each other.

People love seeing violence and horrible things. The human being is bad and he can't stand more than five minutes of happiness. Put him in a dark theater and ask him to look at two hours of happiness and he'd walk out or fall asleep. Show less «

[on his friend Arnold Schwarzenegger] Arnold has no ego. You can say anything to him. In fact, during his first day on the set [of "Total Recall] he sat me down and told me, "I won't be offended if you talk to me in a direct manner. Say what you feel". That made it easy, because I wouldn't have to be diplomatic and say, "Arnold, could you perhaps move over here and give me a different angle?" I could just go, "Arnold, this is bad. You look stupid!" Show less «

It's still difficult if you are a European director and your first language is not English to be exactly aware what the nuances of the American language are. Even after fifty, sixty years you are basically kind of a little bit retarded there. Show less «

[on his filmmaking style] American critics always complain about the blandness of mainstream movies, but when you do something more ambiguous and ironic, they are pissed off too. I like putting certain aspects of American society under the magnifying glass and showing them for what they are. Show less «

There is a fear about sex in motion pictures, as if sex would undermine morality.

[on Showgirls (1995)] I never watch any of my movies once I finish them, but the one exception is 'Showgirls,' which I watch 20 times over and that is because I truly think it is so elegantly made. I think the movement is elegant, the way it is shot is elegant and the use of color is elegant. (...) The story is really not that good, but I think the movements and the way it is choreographed are a pleasure to watch. (...) Even after all the bad reviews and lack of enthusiasm from the audience, I've always really liked the movie and still do. It's nice to see that certain audiences are now more positive than they were 20 years ago. For me, that's a reason to be happy, but it's not the most important thing in my life. [2015] Show less «

[on casting Showgirls (1995)] Charlize [Charlize Theron] also auditioned [for the lead], and I don't recall her having any problem with the nudity at all. She was good and wanted the part, but basically she was not well known enough at the time and just did not fit the part, so we said no. I have full respect for Charlize, but if she had been offered the part then she would probably have been chewed up in the same way they treated Elizabeth. She was very lucky that she did not get the part. [2015] Show less «

[on attending the Razzies for Showgirls (1995)] I remember thinking 'nobody will expect it and it'll probably be unpleasant to do but why not, let's go and see what happens!' Nobody knew I was there at first and they kept playing scenes from the movie. Everybody was laughing, but when they started to give out the prizes, to their amazement, I stood up to collect them! (...) I had to walk up there seven times that night. I got Worst Director, Worst Movie, Worst Music, Worst Acting and it just went on...it was absolutely fantastic because by the end of the evening people were screaming and laughing and clapping, it was a really great experience for me. (...) On this occasion, I think attending the Razzies and 'turning the other cheek' was absolutely the right thing to do because it was like a catharsis for me and felt like the end of the whole negative spiral, like it had all been wiped away. As soon as I came out of that room I felt purified in some way. [2015] Show less «

[on Basic Instinct (1992)'s most famous scene] There was a student at my university in Holland who was five or six years older than us and she would go to parties like that. She would turn up, sit down and open her legs like that. On one occasion my friend, in all naivety, said to her, 'Are you aware that we can see your vagina between your legs?' And she replied, 'Yes of course, that is the reason I do it.' (...) The scene was not in the original "Basic Instinct" script, but I had dinner with Sharon one evening and told her the story and asked what she thought about it and I saw a devilish look in her eye and she just said, 'Yes!' (...) I was so surprised when my editor used that shot because it was never a very big deal at the time and I didn't really expect him to use it. I had no idea how fascinating the scene would become! (...) I remember a female assistant editor then began watching the scene on loop, basically looking at the shot under a microscope convinced she could see Sharon's vagina. I told her, 'No, you just see the inside of her thighs' and so we began discussing what we could see because, if you look at the scene it is only four frames, so it is very difficult to know exactly what you see because it is only meant to be a suggestion. So we began looking and looking at the celluloid of the film with a magnifying glass and that's when we realized that yes, we could see her vagina. But because the speed at which we shot it, we decided to leave it in, but we never expected it to be so sensational - and yes, it is Sharon Stone's real vagina. [2015] Show less «

Right now, Hollywood doesn't fit with my artistic sensibilities. I feel that in France and in Europe, there is enormous respect for filmmakers. This doesn't happen in Hollywood. For us, it's hard to shoot there because they do not want what we want. There, all films must be visible to the greatest number. Money rules everything. The studios have abandoned the quality. Everything is smooth, it idles. They try to avoid controversy. [2016] Show less «

[on the humor in Elle (2016)] I've always had it, that sense that a subject as heavy and black needs to be balanced by humor. It protects me from the subject. I'm influenced by Luis Buñuel, I've seen all the movies. [2016] Show less «

American cinema today is missing all existential thought. There's no questioning society. No politics. Studios try to make themselves feel good with the movies that make it to the Oscars. [2016] Show less «

I went through the RoboCop (2014) [remake] script and it seemed to have the same problems as the Total Recall (2012) remake. There's no humor in it. [The original] Total Recall (1990) was supposed to have Harrison Ford in the lead, but once that fell through and Arnold [Arnold Schwarzenegger] came into the equation the tone of the film had to be changed and we infused a little humor into it. The ["Total Recall"] remake takes place almost entirely on Earth, what a bore! It's also such a self-serious film. [2016]"Right now, Hollywood doesn't fit with my artistic sensibilities," he continued. "I feel that in France and in Europe, there is enormous respect for filmmakers. This doesn't happen in Hollywood. For us, it's hard to shoot there because they do not want what we want. There, all films must be visible to the greatest number. Money rules everything. The studios have abandoned the quality. Everything is smooth, it idles. They try to avoid controversy." Show less «

It takes strong motivation to have to get up at 6 AM and go to bed at midnight for months. I'm also boosted by fear, by the fact of not knowing if I'm able to carry out a project that interests me. Although it is not always easy, to explore unknown territories is what I desire the most. [2016] Show less «