'ROBOCOP' man justifies use of violence in films

Antalya (Turkey), Oct 17 (UNI) Renowned filmmaker Paul Verhoeven says the drama of disruption is something necessary to be shown in cinema to make audiences aware of the harmful effects of violence.

Amsterdam-born Paul, who is heading the international jury at the ongoing Fourth International Eurasian Film Festival which coincides with the 45th Golden Orange Film Festival, said 'we are in love with violence'.

He said as a young child, he had always felt there was something sinister about violence, and had been drawn towards disruption 'as in a fairy tale'. It is only as he grew up that he realised the consequences of violence. He said 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.

Since violence 'is all around us', it is a necessary tool to tell stories. However, the trick lay in the way this was shown in an ambiguous manner, directly, or in a tone that showed condemnation of violence.

In answer to another question about his films being women-centric, he said amidst laughter: 'the more I get older, the more I love women'.

He said as a director, his goal was 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.' After graduating and a short stint in the Royal Netherlands Navy, Paul began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969 he directed the popular Dutch TV series "Floris" (1969), about a medieval knight. His first feature, Wat zien ik (1971) was released in 1971. However it was his second, Turks fruit (1973), with its combination of raw sexuality and a poignant story line that gained him great popularity in the Netherlands, especially with male audiences. When his films, especially Soldaat van Oranje (1977) and Vierde man, De (1983), received international recognition, Paul moved to the Hollywood. His first US film was 'Flesh&Blood (1985)' in 1985, but it was RoboCop (1987) and especially Total Recall (1990) that made him a big box office success.

Paul has co-scripted two of his films: Soldaat van Oranje (1977) and 'Flesh&Blood (1985)' He also directed an episode of the HBO "The Hitchhiker" (1983) TV series. Several of his films have been photographed by Jost Vacano including the hit cult film Starship Troopers (1997) starring Casper Van Dien.

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