Flesh and Blood Review (1985)
8.5/10
Never before has a film’s title so succinctly summed up a director’s career. Flesh and Blood is an often overlooked Paul Verhoeven gem. It was his first English language production. Unfortunately, it was a failure at the box office. Verhoeven has said that the film retained too much of a European sensibility rather than fully committing to what was expected from a Hollywood film. That is part of what makes the film unique, that refusal to adhere to traditional blockbuster storytelling. This was made in the early stages of his Hollywood career when he was just starting to figure out how to twist genre conventions to his vision.
I’m trying to avoid using the term “subvert expectations”, even though I just did. That is what Verhoeven has been doing for years. This was the start of that approach. His films are a gleeful celebration of genre tropes, whilst pointing out their absurdities. Medieval epics like Flesh and Blood have existed since the beginnings of Hollywood. Their format is tried and true. Heroic knights, damsels in distress, etc. Most of them don’t spend much time delving into the depravities and brutality of the period. They are too busy with a more fantastical approach to the era.
When Verhoeven is at his best, his films can be enjoyed on multiple levels. Those who are more literal can see them as exciting Blockbuster schlock, albeit with a lot of violence and sex. Those more in tune with his sensibilities will love his skewering of the genres he indulges in. The violence and sexuality in his films are often over the top and gratuitous. This succeeds in not only being entertaining, but it also points out how inherently ridiculous our sensitivities are. More specifically, the American sensibility when it comes to what we enjoy in art. Gruesome blood and gore are fine, but any hint of sexuality is seen by many as abhorrent.
This puritanical aversion to what is quite natural to see in the world has formed the backbone of Verhoeven’s themes. The sex and bloodshed in the film are intertwined and inseparable from each other. The film focuses on a group of mercenaries in Medieval Europe. After being hired to sack a city by the feudal lord Arnolfini, they are betrayed and kicked out of the taken-back city. All the loot they were promised is ripped from their hands. Among the mercs is the charismatic Martin, played by the dashing and charming Rutger Hauer. After burying his stillborn son, the mercs dig up a wooden statue of Saint Martin of Tours, the saint with a sword. Their Cardinal believes this is a sign from God that they should follow their own Martin as the leader.
This morphs them into fanatical religious zealots. Martin is a greedy opportunist. When we are introduced to him, he openly mocks God to the Cardinal and has no interest in religion. He uses this newfound worship by his comrades as an excuse to use these people as a method to obtain the luxurious life he feels was taken away from him. Lord Arnolfini’s son Steven, a grating yet endearing performance by Tom Burlinson, is an entitled scholar with no interest in anything but his work. He is set up to marry Agnes, a woman he has never met, played by the fantastic Jennifer Jason Leigh. This infuriates Steven who wants to break free from his father’s control and be a respected scholar. He is then tricked into meeting her and dismisses her within seconds. She ends up winning his heart with her innocence and romantic view of the world.
Martin and his gang soon kidnap her and mortally wound Arnolfini. This is where the film shifts into its harsh and realistic portrayal of the time. A typical Hollywood film would have Martin becoming a changed man by Agnes’ love and Steven being the rich interloper that must be destroyed. The rich versus the underdogs. Flesh and Blood goes in a more merciless and cruel direction. Agnes is immediately sexually assaulted by the mercs. Martin stops the attack, only to then rape her himself. She realizes the only way to survive and create a new life is to feign infatuation with Martin. Their relationship is one born from desperation and fear.
Steven is far from being a hero. He is meek and abrasive. His blossoming feelings for Agnes are genuine and he becomes a stronger person through his search for her. The film captures the grim landscapes of Medieval times brilliantly. This is not a pleasant and rose-tinted look at the past. This is a plague-ridden world where death was a frequent visitor. Martin’s gang of zealots does not become more likable as the film goes on. They remain reprehensible and both the men and women encourage the rape of Agnes.
She is the heart of the story. Through her, we see the difficulties of living in this time. By the end of the film, the relationship with Martin has grown to the point where she feels genuinely conflicted about killing him. He did keep her away from the other men, even though he is scummy in his way. Before him, Agnes was a sheltered woman who did not understand what it meant to be with a man. The connection with Martin could be chalked up to Stockholm Syndrome. Verhoeven keeps her feelings bubbling beneath the surface. Perhaps she is drawn to the debauchery of Martin’s lifestyle as a reaction to her own life in a bubble. Steven was not exactly welcoming to her at first. I’m glad the film was not upfront with communicating all her feelings. It leaves it up to the audience to interpret what she thinks of Martin by the end. She seems to have softened him, but he is still as calculating and ruthless as always by the finale.
It’s a shame Flesh and Blood has been overlooked by many who are familiar with Verhoeven’s work. I don’t think he is underrated since his films are popular, but he is certainly underappreciated. His films strike an odd middle ground; they are seen as not artsy enough for the arthouse crowd, but too weird to be generic Hollywood action fodder. This film was the first step in his examination of the American mindset. Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out how ridiculous the society here can be. Flesh and Blood excels as a rollicking medieval action drama, but it has enough deviations from that genre to be its own seditious beast, one that understands how tormented and cruel that time could be. Some of the side characters, especially in Martin’s gang are underdeveloped, but that is the only issue I had with the film.
