PAUL
VERHOEVEN
KNOWS
a
thing
or
two
about
controversy.
The
Dutch
director
garnered
his
fair
share
of
it
with
the
release
of
“Basic
Instinct”
and
“Showgirls,”
whose
over-the-top
sexuality
and
violence
were
buffered
with
a
slick
Hollywood
gloss.
Critics
said
the
films
presented
lesbian
characters
in
a
negative
and
unrealistic
light.
In
1980,
some
years
before
Verhoeven
went
Hollywood,
he
was
considered
a
key
figure
in
the
Dutch
new-wave
film
industry.
This
was
the
year
he
released
“Spetters,”
a
disturbing
but
powerful
look
at
desperation’s
pivotal
role
in
the
lives
of
a
small
group
of
young
and
restless
Dutch
friends.
One
of
the
main
characters
in
the
film
ultimately
acknowledges
he
is
gay.
Rien
(Hans
van
Tongeren)
is
a
hotshot
motocross
racer
who
dreams
of
one
day
being
as
great
as
local
star
racer
Gerritt
(Rutger
Hauer).
For
support,
he
leans
on
his
mechanic,
Eef
(Toon
Agterberg),
and
his
buddy,
Hans
(Maarten
Spanjer),
who
is
searching
for
his
purpose
in
life.
Into
their
lives
comes
the
beautiful,
opportunistic
Fientje
(Renee
Sountendijk)
who,
along
with
her
gay
brother,
operates
a
traveling
fast-food
concession
where
she
meets
the
three
boys
after
Rien
wins
a
championship
race.
Fientje
sees
her
ticket
to
the
good
life
in
the
endorsement-rich
motocross
scene,
and
begins
to
scheme
and
sleep
her
way
through
the
group
of
friends
to
achieve
her
goals.
VERHOEVEN
ALSO
TACKLES
gay
themes
in
“Spetters.”
Eef,
who
in
the
film
bashes
several
gay
people
and
also
watches
with
fascination
as
a
male
prostitute
services
a
john,
is
later
gang-raped
by
a
group
of
men
in
the
subway.
The
experience
frees
his
repressed
homosexual
feelings.
Eef
subsequently
comes
out
to
his
strict
religious
father,
who
responds
by
beating
him
up.
The
rape
scene,
in
typical
Verhoeven
fashion,
is
brutal
and
graphic.
It’s
also
extremely
offensive
for
the
director,
who
is
straight,
to
imply
that
being
the
victim
of
a
sexual
attack
is
all
that’s
needed
to
awaken
a
person’s
homosexual
feelings.
It
sends
the
wrong
message,
especially
to
people
struggling
with
their
sexual
identity.
Other
homoerotic
aspects
of
the
film
include
a
fleeting
kiss
between
Rien
and
Eef,
and
an
early
scene
in
Eef’s
garage
in
which
the
three
friends
compare
penis
sizes
as
part
of
a
discussion
about
who
will
be
the
first
to
bed
Fientje.
The
film’s
instrumental
score
is
laughably
cheeseball,
but
the
soundtrack
does
feature
classic
disco
anthems
by
Blondie,
Michael
Jackson,
and
Iggy
Pop.
Despite
several
shortcomings,
“Spetters”
is
a
powerful
and
engrossing
film.
Verhoeven
isn’t
working
with
the
big
bucks
here
that
went
into
his
subsequent
Hollywood
efforts
like
“Robocop,”
“Total
Recall”
and
“Basic
Instinct.”
But
he
succeeds
by
depicting
a
realistic
and
hopeful
coming-of-age
story
in
the
film’s
first
half,
and
a
dark
tragedy
in
the
second.
Thankfully,
cinematographer
Jost
Vacano
gives
dreary
Rotterdam
a
halcyon
glow,
which
is
as
hopeful
and
upbeat
as
the
film’s
ending.
