Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven, the octogenarian (he’s 82) Dutch-born director, remains one of world cinema’s most controversial filmmakers, a status reconfirmed by his latest feature, Benedetta, the most audacious movie to be seen at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. As an auteur, he is known for blending ultra-graphic violence and bold sexual contents, laced with a darkly humorous social satire.

Considering the frisson that Paul Verhoeven created with his 2021 Cannes entry, the erotic/religious drama Benedetta, it would be appropriate to recall another shock by the Dutch enfant terrible - Basic Instinct, in competition in 1992. The film had already stirred controversy in the US - it had opened in March -, with critics panning the picture -according to Roger Ebert, "just a worthless scrap with the spaces filled in"- and gay activists loudly protesting the movie with signs saying "Hollywood Promotes Anti-Gay Violence".

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Paul Verhoeven’s new film, Elle, came was a hit at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and certainly one of the most talked-about films of the year, sparking debate over its treatment of rape. Adapted from the novel, “Oh…” by French writer Philippe Djian, David Birke’s screenplay is a mix of drama, comedy and thriller.

Not counting the experimental crowd-sourced Entertainment Experience (2012), 78 year-old Dutch iconoclast Paul Verhoeven hadn’t directed a film since Black Book ten years ago. He’s back to his old tricks with Elle in which Isabelle Huppert plays a French businesswoman, who after being brutally raped in her home stalks her assailant.