Verhoeven Versus Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven, a Dutch filmmaker for whom sex, violence and religion are "the three most important elements on Earth", likes to press where it hurts. Born in 1938, he grew up in The Hague under the German occupation, in the fury of bombings and summary executions. Inspired by comics and the New Wave, atheist but passionate about the historical figure of Jesus, Paul Verhoeven lets his darker side and his complexity shine through his characters, and pushes them to transgression. In Hollywood, he is pampered and has had a string of successes ("Robocop", "Total Recall", "Basic Instinct") without giving up his obsessions. Michael Douglas and Isabelle Huppert, the heroine of his latest feature film, "Elle", confide in us.