The Fourth Man (1983 film)

The Fourth Man Dutch De vierde man is a 1983 Dutch suspense film directed by Paul Verhoeven, based on the novel De vierde man by Gerard Reve. The film stars Jeroen Krabb and Rene Soutendijk in the lead roles. It was Verhoevens last film made in the Netherlands before he established himself in Hollywood he would later return to make 2006s Black Book. The film was selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 56th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Gerard Reve Jeroen Krabb, an alcoholic, bisexual novelist, leaves Amsterdam to deliver a lecture at the Vlissingen Literary Society. There, he becomes sexually involved with its attractive treasurer, Christine Halslag Rene Soutendijk, who is alternately described as a witch, black widow, Delilah and the Devil. The Virgin Mary appears to him in visions to show that he is targeted as her fourth victim. Mary says, Anyone given a warning must listen to it. Gerard listens and his life is spared. He passes on the warning to Herman, Christines other lover, who ignores it, thinking that Gerard is trying to scare him off so that he can have Christine for himself. The movie ends with Hermans death, Christines selection of a fifth victim and Gerards future uncertain.Paul Verhoeven has said of the film The Fourth Man has to do with my vision of religion. In my opinion, Christianity is nothing more than one of many interpretations of reality, neither more nor less. Ideally, it would be nice to believe that there is a God somewhere out there, but it looks to me as if the whole Christian religion is a major symptom of schizophrenia in half the worlds population civilizations scrambling to rationalize their chaotic existence. Subsequently, Christianity has a tendency to look like magic or the occult. And I liked that ambiguity, because I wanted my audience to take something home with them. I wanted them to wonder about what religion really is. Remember, that Christianity is a religion grounded in one of the most violent acts of murder, the crucifixion. Otherwise, religion wouldnt have had any kind of impact. With regard to the irony of the violence, much of that probably comes from my childhood experiences during and immediately following the Second World War. In fact, if it hadnt been for the German occupation and then the American occupation, I would have never been a filmmaker. ........

Source: Wikipedia