Is Rutger Hauer the Netherland's most famous acting son? The number of fellow Dutch actors familiar to audiences globally is small enough to count on the fingers of one hand. Let's see, there's Bond baddies Jeroen Krabbe and Famke Janssen, Emmanuelle star Sylvia Kristel, and Mrs von Stauffenberg from Valkyrie Carice van Houten. None of them have yet played characters as diverse and memorable as blind Samurai sword master Nick Parker, despondent replicant Roy Batty, or hitch-hiking psychopath John Ryder. Yep, Hauer's got the drop on all of 'em.
Rutger Hauer - Best at Baddies and Bladerunner
In a career spanning four decades (and counting), Hauer has proved himself a versatile and talented actor, adept at films both serious and, occasionally, comedic. But, without a doubt, Hauer's strongest hand is always playing the baddie. Whether it be out of the park crazy John Ryder from The Hitcher, or arrogant, corporate pig Earle from Batman Begins, evil foes are a definite specialty. Rutger Hauer's top films as a baddie, the ones that let him really stretch his acting skills, are The Hitcher, Blade Runner, Nighthawks, and (who could forget?) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. OK, maybe Buffy wasn't the pinnacle of his career, but then what can compare to Blade Runner? Roy Batty was a once in a lifetime character. The dying replicant afforded Hauer the opportunity to play emotionally charged scenes, the complexities of which are still being debated today.
Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty
Batty was a violent, calculating replicant, but he was also intelligent. He knew his life was coming to an end, and as such many of his actions carried with them a hopeless poignancy. After a cat and mouse rooftop chase, Batty saves the life of his pursuer, the blade runner Deckard (Harrison Ford). His reward is a moment of sadness and reflection before his own death. A quiet, lament that has to go down as one of cinema's greatest ever death scenes:
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die.”
Rutger Hauer and Paul Verhoeven
Hauer has worked extensively with fellow Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, well known for helming eurotrash such as Showgirls and Starship Troopers. Hauer's work with Verhoeven is, to no great surprise, hit and miss. To begin, there was the well loved Dutch TV show Floris, a swashbuckling medieval romp. That was followed by a TV mini-series Soldier of Orange, which in turn became a fairly well-received film in 1977, co-starring Jerome Krabbe.. There was also Spetters (1980), in which Hauer plays a motorbike racing champion, and Turkish Delight (1973) where he's a sculptor. It will come as no shock to anyone familiar with Verhoeven that most of Hauer's collaborations with him are peppered with sex and violence. None more so than Flesh and Blood, a tumultuous tale of mercenaries, summed up succinctly by its own title.
The Ups and Downs of Rutger Hauer's Film Career
Throughout the nineties Hauer's work was characterised by a distinctly straight to video quality. It was a sad state of affairs for the one time star of such admired films as The Osterman Weekend, Nighthawks and Ladyhawke - in which for once he got to be the hero Blind Fury (the one where he's a blind swordsman) marked the beginning of a downturn in Hauer's career, despite being total, enjoyable fun (in a B movie kind of a way). But although Hauer was down for a while, he was not out. Recent cameo appearances in quality films such as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Sin City and Batman Begins confirm his reputation remains in check with several of today's top notch directors.
There's also good news about Hauer's latest project. Smoke and Ochre looks all set to be a serious return to form, uniting Hauer with dutch actress Carice van Houten and director Paula van der Oest. The film is a biopic about South African poet Ingrid Jonker, which even at this early stage has award-worthy stamped all over it.
Rutger Hauer Trivia
One final note – Rutger Hauer is also the recipient of one of the oddest, most banal and yet strangely laugh out loud funny pieces of trivia ever submitted to that great Heaven of film information IMDb. There, it is reliably reported that :
Both his first and last name end with the letters "er". He has appeared in 13 movies/TV-series whose title or alternative title end with "er" or "ers". He has played 8 characters whose names end with "er".
So, er, thanks for that IMDb. Now we all know.
Michelle Strozykowski - Michelle Strozykowski lives in a small brewing town smack bang in the middle of England. She loves films, especially arty European ones ...
