Paul Verhoeven On Why He Gave RoboCop A God Complex
There’s a reason the sci-fi thriller stands out from the crowd. And surprising though it might be to hear, it has an awful lot to do with Jesus Christ...
It was Withnail & I writer-director Bruce Robinson who correctly identified the uniform of the modern-day filmmaker. “Shades, beard and baseball cap” – cast your eye over a Who’s Who of contemporary movie greats and you’ll see that the vast majority have embraced these terribly bland accessories.
Okay, so the odd one or two might break out the Gillette now and again, and some particularly daring types might wear their caps back-to-front but, for the most part, the 21st century filmmaker’s wardrobe is every bit as bland as his body of work.
Not so brain-frying Dutchman Paul Verhoeven. Called on to direct the World War II movie Soldier Of Orange, he showed up every day on set wearing an Afrika Korps uniform. Likewise, for the motorcycle picture Spetters, he was never to be seen without both his biker leathers and his bullhorn.
A glorious eccentric in a conformity-riddled field, it’s Verhoeven’s appetite for excess that elevates RoboCop. Indeed, what could have been a shoddy Terminator rip-off in lesser hands became a celebration of style, spirituality and ultra-violence thanks to the mad man from Amsterdam.
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