Regarded as the most successful Dutch film, "Turks Fruit" (Turkish Delight) is a melodramatic romantic-tragedy directed by Paul Verhoeven.
Verhoeven is renowned for his frank and extreme depictions of sex and violence, and "Turks Fruit" is no different. Violence, feces, vomit and many other scenes that western audiences are sure to find challenging, are on frequent display, presented by Verhoeven in a very matter-of-fact style.
But it never feels exploitative. If anything, it's funny to see Verhoeven sticking his camera wherever he pleases. His framing here is also different to his other films, the director adopting a highly free-form style of shooting, lots of hand-held camera work, no storyboarding, little rehearsal and a preference for early takes, all in an attempt to captures raw and spontaneous natural performances.
The film's plot is really insignificant. It's the tale of an artist (Rutger Hauer) who has trouble dealing with his wife's (Monique van de Ven) selfish mother. This friction leads to an intense courting and marital relationship. Eventually husband and wife grow apart, only to be brought back together by the realisation that Monique has cancer. When his wife dies, Rutger Hauer walks sadly off into the sunset. It's an R rated take on Arthur Hiller's "Love Story".
It's a trite story, but Verhoeven inserts some simple visual metaphors to elevate things. Artwork is compared to the passion of romance, whilst decay and maggots crop up again and again to highlight the cancerous way the couple's relationship gradually collapses. The film is constantly switching between two aesthetics: a colourful, pleasing palette (good times) and a really nasty griminess (bad times).
7.9/10- Worth watching once for its style, bombastic pace, catchy musical score, and some beautiful Dutch women. Rutger Hauer comes across as a sex starved brute, until the final act in which Verhoeven lingers on his sculptors and artwork, all of which feature pregnant women and babies. Poor Rutger only wanted a family.
Verhoeven is renowned for his frank and extreme depictions of sex and violence, and "Turks Fruit" is no different. Violence, feces, vomit and many other scenes that western audiences are sure to find challenging, are on frequent display, presented by Verhoeven in a very matter-of-fact style.
But it never feels exploitative. If anything, it's funny to see Verhoeven sticking his camera wherever he pleases. His framing here is also different to his other films, the director adopting a highly free-form style of shooting, lots of hand-held camera work, no storyboarding, little rehearsal and a preference for early takes, all in an attempt to captures raw and spontaneous natural performances.
The film's plot is really insignificant. It's the tale of an artist (Rutger Hauer) who has trouble dealing with his wife's (Monique van de Ven) selfish mother. This friction leads to an intense courting and marital relationship. Eventually husband and wife grow apart, only to be brought back together by the realisation that Monique has cancer. When his wife dies, Rutger Hauer walks sadly off into the sunset. It's an R rated take on Arthur Hiller's "Love Story".
It's a trite story, but Verhoeven inserts some simple visual metaphors to elevate things. Artwork is compared to the passion of romance, whilst decay and maggots crop up again and again to highlight the cancerous way the couple's relationship gradually collapses. The film is constantly switching between two aesthetics: a colourful, pleasing palette (good times) and a really nasty griminess (bad times).
7.9/10- Worth watching once for its style, bombastic pace, catchy musical score, and some beautiful Dutch women. Rutger Hauer comes across as a sex starved brute, until the final act in which Verhoeven lingers on his sculptors and artwork, all of which feature pregnant women and babies. Poor Rutger only wanted a family.