De vierde man is Paul Verhoeven's last film made in Holland before he established himself in Hollywood (incl. with Basic Instinct, loosely based on it) - based on the novel by controversial Dutch writer Gerard Reve, who actually is the protagonist (giftedly performed by Jeroen Krabbé, one of the internationally recognised Dutch character actors). When/if an extravagant writer is bi-sexual, paranoid, and has religious visions, then the result is no line of smooth and logical actions, but messy behaviour where all around get hurt in a way or another - including the person himself. However, the tensions fade at times, and you begin to wait and expect much more than actually happens, including the difficulties to distinguish dreams from real events. I would also liked to see a more sophisticated ending, either total openness or total solution. But the cast is good, and Renée Soutendijk as Christine is really sexy and devilish.
Probably a nice experience, if you like suspension thrillers with brave sexuality and obsession; it was too mind-twisting to me.
Probably a nice experience, if you like suspension thrillers with brave sexuality and obsession; it was too mind-twisting to me.