Locarno pays tribute to Paul Verhoeven
Dutch director Paul Verhoeven is to be honoured at the Locarno film festival on Friday when he receives the "Leopard of honour". The ceremony will be followed by the European première of his latest film, "Hollow Man".
Born in Amsterdam in 1938 and now based in Hollywood, Verhoeven is best-known for his film “Basic Instinct”, released in 1992.
He began his film career as a director of short films in the 1960s, after receiving a doctorate in mathematics and physics. His first full-length feature, “Business is Business”, in 1971, went down well with cinema audiences in the Netherlands.
But it wasn’t until 1987 that he achieved international success with the science fiction film “Robocop”. This was followed three years later by “Total Recall”.
His latest movie, which has been acclaimed for its special effects, is about a young scientist who becomes irreversibly invisible after injecting himself with a serum.
Previous winners of the “Leopard of honour” include Jean-Luc Godard and Bernardo Bertolucci.
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