Flesh + Blood

Watched this for the first time. So I had no clue this was a Paul Verhoeven movie. Did some reading. So much makes sense.

I saw this movie is what convinced Verhoeven to move to the US because he wanted to learn why this movie was not a success in the US. And I certainly see why it wasn’t .

I am glad this movie exists. I might even say it’s a good movie on some levels. Certainly worth a watch for the adventurous. Rutger Haeur is amazing.

But this is one of the most offputting movies in some ways I’ve seen in a long time. The Verhoeven classics mixed their nihilism with comedic parody and there is none in this movie. Just a lot of unlikable character doing bad stuff to each other. Now I see that a lot of that was do to a very problematic shoot where there was lots of drugs and other issues on set with no firm script to shoot. But still

Let’s get the cat out of the bag, there’s a lot of rape. I don’t need a 15 minute sexual assault scene at the bandit camp (which Leigh and Verhoeven both said took 5 days of misery to shoot and Leigh said she was physically beaten in it). We don’t need constant reminders that everyone is either raping or being raped every 5 minutes. This movie crams it down our throats every chance it gets. Even at the end, the one bandit lady survives and is immediately carried off to be raped. It adds nothing other than “things sure were shitty back in the day.”.

Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character is purposefully all over the place. But that doesn’t make her story one that I want to follow. After doing some research, I see her role was completely an afterthought. And considering she’s the female lead, I can see that.

Also, I have major issues with the makeout scene that takes place under the hung and disemboweled corpses. That was gross and not accurate. Medieval people famously did not like being around dead people. The executioners were complete pariahs because they dealt with dead people.

Also, that extending ladder is some shite out of Monty python