The 1973 film, ‘Turkish Delight’ truly did poetic justice to the original 1969 Dutch novel by painter/sculptor/author Jan Wolkers (his novel was translated into a dozen languages). I managed to get my hands on an out-of-print European copy of the film yesterday for viewing and was immediately hypnotized by its utter uninhabited rawness. This film was awarded ‘Best Movie of the Century’ in Amsterdam, and I can see why- it’s pure energy, honest, raw and sincere in its delivery. The movie was shot handheld and with a very loud Arriflex 16mm camera, a camera that has a synch motor so loud that it inevitably had to have ALL of its dialogue dubbed in by the actors after photography was completed. This film is what ‘Love Story’ was in the U.S. minus the catchphrase ‘love is never having to say you’re sorry’... in this Dutch rendition of true love it’s all about having a sweet tooth with a hospital’s Turkish pastry.
p.s. kinda funny to think this director (Paul Verhoeven) went on the make such Hollywood blockbusters like RoboCop, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers and Total Recall. At age 80, his most recent film Elle was superb and a true return to his raw-cinema storytelling roots.
bye.
