Turkish Delight

The relationship between the sculptor Eric Vonk and Olga begins after a crash and runs for four years through whatever happens. The film tells it from the end backwards: first Eric after losing her, then the relationship itself. When Olga's illness appears the tone changes completely, though the film never at any point tries to be measured. Paul Verhoeven directed. The source is Jan Wolkers's novel of the same name. Rutger Hauer plays Eric in his first major screen role and his first work with Verhoeven. Monique van de Ven plays Olga. The film announces itself in the opening minutes: a brutal sequence in which Eric kills two people, immediately revealed as a fantasy as the man is seen lying naked on his bed. From then on it hides nothing about sex, nudity or bodily functions. It became the most-seen film in Dutch cinema history, was an international box office success and opened the careers of Verhoeven and both leads. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1974 Academy Awards. Who it is for: anyone curious about the boundaryless European cinema of the seventies and where Verhoeven started. Who it is not for: viewers uncomfortable with explicit material, or who will question how the woman is drawn. The film almost never steps outside Eric's point of view.