Turks fruit (1973)

A young love faces with old problems.

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers:

Gerard Soeteman (screenplay), Jan Wolkers (novel)

Stars:

Monique van de Ven, Rutger Hauer, Tonny Huurdeman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Monique van de Ven	...	Olga
Rutger Hauer	...	Eric
Tonny Huurdeman	...	Moeder
Wim van den Brink	...	Vader
Hans Boskamp	...	Winkelchef
Dolf de Vries	...	Paul
Manfred de Graaf	...	Henny
Dick Scheffer	...	Accountant
Marjol Flore	...	Tineke
Bert Dijkstra	...	Functionaris
Bert André	...	Functionaris in Limburg
Jon Bluming	...	Beveiliging
Paul Brandenburg	...	Bruidegom
Suze Broks	...	Eric's One night stand (as Suzie Broks)
David Conyers	...	Amerikaan

Storyline

Sort of a cross between Love Story (1970) and an earthy Rembrandt painting, this movie stars Rutger Hauer as gifted Dutch sculptor Eric, who has a stormy, erotic, and star-crossed romance with a beautiful young girl. The story follows the arc of their relationship and his interaction with her family. Told in flashback form, initially, Eric is seen as a libertine lothario collector, taking trophies from his sexual conquests and pasting them in a book. He sees a sculpture he made of his lost lover and goes into a flashback of his relationship with his wife. He meets the girl, falls in love with and marries her, and we meet her parents: a charming, well meaning, bumbling father, and his shrew of a wife, who's convinced Eric is too much of a bohemian to make a good mate for her daughter. Eventually, the petty jealousies, the sexual hijinks, and the climactic vomit scene prove to be too much for the marriage, and Eric and his lady separate. Flash forward several months, and Eric finds the ...

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Plot Keywords:

female removes her clothes | female full frontal nudity | nude model | pink panties | panties | 

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Taglines:

This is the indulgence of passion

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Another reason why Director Paul Verhoeven chose Monique van de Ven over Willeke van Ammelrooy was because he considered van Ammelrooij too sensual for the part of the innocent and somewhat childish Olga. Verhoeven even had a picture of van de Ven on his desk while writing the screenplay, so he could better imagine the character.

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Goofs

During the thunderstorm, when Eric is walking towards Olga who is standing outside in the rain, the reflection of a spotlight providing "lightning" can be seen on the surface of the door.

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Quotes

Eric Vonk: I screw better than God.

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Connections

Featured in You Don't Nomi (2019)

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Soundtracks

Meisjes met rode haren
(uncredited)
Written by Manfred Oberdörffer (uncredited) & Hans Georg Moslener (uncredited)
Dutch lyrics by Pim van Zijl (uncredited)
Performed by Arne Jansen (uncredited)

User Reviews

The Epitome of 70's Dutch Cinema

"Turks Fruit",based on the novel written by the legendary Dutch writer Jan Wolkers,is a true Dutch classic. That doesn't mean that much since my country isn't a major player in World cinema.Yet this film is very good and very famous.

It was voted the best Dutch film ever a few years ago when a national poll was held in Holland.It's tough to agree with that,since I haven't seen all the classics but it's right up there,that much is true.

The sex and dirty images of poo are not for everyone to see,yet it is essential to the free culture of Amsterdam in the 1970's.

Amsterdam was the center of the world in the 70's,so my mother told me. That was probably the reason why she left France (she is French) and came to Amsterdam."Turks Fruit" shows a very poignant picture of the city at that time and the sexual liberation of them days.

The directing by the,at that time,young Paul Verhoeven is splendid and it's no mystery why he left Holland to go to Hollywood.His talents are clear but another reason was that he was misunderstood in Holland so he said himself.

The camera work is great,but that's no surprise since it's done by one of the greatest cameramen Jan de Bont (who became famous in the 90's with his action classics "Speed" and "Twister",especially "Speed" show the superb talents of de Bont when it comes to camera work).

The film also launched the careers of Rutger Hauer and Monique van de Ven. Van de Ven stayed in Holland,playing in some of the best Dutch films and Hauer went to Hollywood and gained cult fame when he starred in "Blade Runner",a terrific performance by Hauer.

Verhoeven and Hauer would team up again 4 years later to make the Dutch war classic "Soldaat van Oranje".

"Turks Fruit" is truly the epitome of 70's Dutch cinema with it's liberated sex approach that would echo in several other Dutch films in the 70's and 80's.

Very important for Holland but maybe too much for the rest of the world,especially for the rather prudish Hollywood.

Essential viewing though for everyone who wants to know something about the Dutch cinema. 8/10

Details

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch English

Release Date:

22 February 1973 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Turkish Delight

Filming Locations:

Alkmaar, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Box Office

Budget:

NLG800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Verenigde Nederlandsche Filmcompagnie (VNF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1