The Fourth Man (De Vierde Man)

The Director's Chair Network · Mar 1, 2026 · 1h 1m · transcript

Deep solo dive into Paul Verhoeven's 1983 Dutch masterpiece "The Fourth Man" (De vierde man), arguably his best film from his Dutch era! This psychological erotic thriller, adapted from Gerard Reve's provocative novel, blends surrealism, Catholic iconography (Mary, Jesus, spiders, Delilah/Sphinx), homoeroticism, unreliable narration, and gory horror. We explore the story of alcoholic bisexual writer Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbé) who suspects seductive widow Christine (Renée Soutendijk) is a black widow killer targeting him as her fourth victim , or is it all in his mad, guiltridden head?

Tying…