No one would ever accuse Paul Verhoeven of holding back. This tale of l’amour fou would look like nothing if read as a screenplay, but as a film it is an epic of ear-splitting realism. Since most of the film concerns two young people in love, it is a joy. The ending, not so much. There is much nudity in the film (Monique van den Ven has virtually no scenes with all of her clothes on; I now have more intimacy with Rutger Hauer’s foreskinned schlong than I did yesterday) as well as laughing, jumping, dancing, defecating, vomiting, shreiking, crying, panicking, mastectomies, and (of course) making art. It definitely captures the Us vs. The World attitude of new young lovers discovering one another. Although only 100 minutes it is a gigantic film, and is, in Holland, according to the imdb, the most popular and profitable Dutch movie ever made. [A little insight into my psyche. Throughout the first two-thirds of the film I was, as I was supposed to be, completely enraptured by the sensual and lithe Monique van den Ven. Kate Winslet’s character from “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is practically plagiarized from her. But about two thirds of the way through, her character has to defecate somewhat graphically on screen and then — for plot purposes, yes — run out of the bathroom very quickly afterwards. She never washed her hands!!!! And while it is possible that her character washes her hands directly after the short scene that plays after she runs from the bathroom, we never see it! So for the rest of the movie I was 100% repulsed by her. The scenes when I was supposed to be angry at Rutger Hauer for treating this divine spirit poorly I was like, “Good — get her out of your apartment and spray something, quick!!!” Indeed, I became fidgety and uneasy and actually had to put the movie on pause and pace for a while because I realized that I’d never get to see her wash her hands after slipping out an onscreen, actual deuce.]