Spetters

Director: Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven

Overview

Spetters further elaborates on the themes of sexual obsession previously probed in director Paul Verhoeven's Turkish Delight (1973). Hans Van Tongeren, Toon Agterberg and Maarten Spanjer play, respectively, Reen, Eve and Hans, a closely-knit group of teenage motorcycle lovers who idolize local cycling champion Witkamp (played by Rutger Hauer, the star of Delight). Unfortunately, the adolescents' attempts to rebel take a dark and brutal turn when Van Tongeren is permanently injured in a road accident and Agterberg is gang raped by a group of homosexuals. While the other two young men lust after Fientje (Renee Soutendjik), a promiscuous hashhouse waitress, Agterberg responds to the rape by coming out and taking Fientje's gay brother as a lover. Verhoeven is artistically and sexually graphic in juxtaposing "cycle love" with the friends' carnal interrelations. The title of Spetters is an indigenous triple-entendre -- it refers to the Dutch vernacular for "grease spatterings" (both the oily renderings left behind by the motorcycles commandeered by the film's central characters and the grease slung by Soutendjik), is a slang term for male ejaculate, and was frequently used in the seventies and eighties to refer to people who are sexually appealing ("That girl is a spetter.")

Product Details

Release Date:	06/12/2018
UPC:	0738329226817
Original Release:	1980
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Hans Van Tongeren	Reen
Renée Soutendijk	Fientje
Toon Agterberg	Eve
Maarten Spanjer	Hans
Marianne Boyer	Maya
Rutger Hauer	Witkamp
Hugo Metsers	Angel
Kitty Courbois	Doctor
Jeroen Krabbé	Henkhof
Ab Abspoel	Actor
Hans Veerman	Actor
Peter Tuinman	Fientje's brother
Peter Oosthoek	Actor

Technical Credits

Gerard Soeteman

Paul Verhoeven	Director
Peter Jasuai	Art Director
Ine Schenkkan	Editor
Ton Scherpenzeel	Score Composer
Dick Schillemans	Art Director
Gerard Soeteman	Screenwriter
Yan Tax	Costumes/Costume Designer
Jost Vacano	Cinematographer
Joop Van Den Ende	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Paul Verhoeven's visceral coming-of-age saga Spetters follows events from the lives of three male teenage buddies in a Holland port town, who share a passion for motocross racing, a reverence of celebrity rider Gerrit Witkamp (Rutger Hauer), and a romantic infatuation with Fientje (($Renee Soutendijk), a gorgeous young woman who sells french fries and croquettes from the Hook of Holland van that she operates with her brother. Voluptuous, uninhibited, and free with her body, she uses sex to get what she wants - as when she staves off trouble with a police officer by bringing him back to her trailer. She also longs for an affluent boyfriend who can deliver her from an unhappy life, and sees each of the racing contenders as a possible option. One by one, the men take turns dating and bedding Fientje, and each character's life undergoes a dramatic shift during the period of that relationship. To reveal more would be unfair, but suffice it to say that all of the arcs are completely credible, anchored by uniformly strong performances from the young cast. Verhoeven also works in a great deal of offbeat humor, as in an inventive sequence where two adjacent couples audibly feign intercourse to impress each other, and a riotous secret about Fientje's food service van that doesn't emerge until 2/3 of the way through the picture. The movie's only real flaw is a serious one, though: it displays extreme bigotry and prejudice toward homosexuals. A subplot where one gay male character gets in touch with his orientation via the "therapeutic" act of a gang bang is appalling and leaves a nasty taste in one's mouth. (Would it have been any less effective for Verhoeven to choose a more subtle way to bring him out of the closet?) If one can get past this ugly blemish, the remainder of the film strikes one as surprisingly effective and dramatically sound. Viewers should be forewarned, however, that Spetters is extremely explicit. It contains several scenes that would have earned it an automatic X rating in the States, had it been submitted to the MPAA (it went out as unrated). Less jaded viewers may find it a little bit unsettling to see graphic fellatio, onanism, and anal rape in a non-porno film, though this level of frankness is consistent enough with Verhoeven's prior Dutch work that fans of Turkish Delight and Keetje Tippel will know exactly what to expect.

All Movie Guide - Nathan Southern