Who knows what happened to Paul Verhoeven when he left Holland for the States, but he hasn't made a sexy movie since. He's made some decent films — Total Recall, Starship Troopers, and Robocop come to mind — but when he's ventured into sexual territory with the likes of Basic Instinct and Showgirls, his work is more ridiculous than erotic. Anyone who's followed his career, however, knows that he has the potential to do wonderful things with racy material, and Turkish Delight, recently released on DVD with commentary from Verhoeven, is probably the best example.

"I F**k Better than God"
The controversial line (Verhoeven's father refuses to see Turkish Delight because of it) quoted above is spoken early on by Erik (Rutger Hauer), a bohemian sculptor taking full advantage of the '70s sexual revolution. The character sets about proving the boast in the first 10 minutes of the film, which is basically a series of encounters between the burly artist and various willing females. Only later does the audience realize that these near-anonymous encounters are his way of covering up the emotional hole left behind by his ex-wife, Olga (Monique Van de Ven).

When the film flashes back to the meeting between Olga and Erik and their subsequent relationship, it becomes something different from the soft-core sex comedy it started out as. The couple may be horny as dogs in heat, but they're also in love, and Verhoeven expertly conveys the affection and attraction they feel for one another. Because of the opening scenes, viewers know that the relationship will fail, but how it does and what happens afterwards is still fascinating.

Though Verhoeven's film veers a bit awkwardly between broad comedy, sex film, and tragedy, it's always engaging, definitely erotic, and quite well-acted. Hauer is at his most ruggedly sexy, and van de Ven is fiery and unabashed. On-screen sex is difficult to do well, and Turkish Delight is one of a very few success stories.
(read the full review here.)