De worstelaar

1971
20m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A young man carries on an affair with a wrestler's wife, without the wrestler's knowledge. The young man's father finds out, and tries to stop the whole thing. He proposes that the young man... Read allA young man carries on an affair with a wrestler's wife, without the wrestler's knowledge. The young man's father finds out, and tries to stop the whole thing. He proposes that the young man and the wrestler have a match, a fair fight, and if the young man wins he gets to keep sl... Read allA young man carries on an affair with a wrestler's wife, without the wrestler's knowledge. The young man's father finds out, and tries to stop the whole thing. He proposes that the young man and the wrestler have a match, a fair fight, and if the young man wins he gets to keep sleeping with the wife. The young man wins against the wrestler, but it turns out that the w... Read all

Director
- Paul Verhoeven
Writers
- Kees Holierhoek
- Paul Verhoeven
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

121

YOUR RATING

Director
- Paul Verhoeven
Writers
- Kees Holierhoek
- Paul Verhoeven
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
First collaboration between director Paul Verhoeven and cinematographer Jan de Bont, who would go on to work on seven more films.

Connections
Referenced in Zwartboek: The Special (2006)

User reviews3

Review

Featured review

7/10

The beginning of a successful collaboration

The first film in which Paul Verhoeven collaborated with Jan de Bont is De worstelaar (1971) (Dutch for The Wrestler). It is a charming little film of about twenty minutes. Wim Zomer is troubled by his father because he has a relationship with the wife of a great wrestler. Just like his documentaru about the Marine Corps, 'De Worstelaar' also has an attractive pace, with well-timed situational jokes, and fun interpretations. Especially the father is entertaining in his reactions to his sons behaviour. But the son is also quite nice as the riotous boy doens't know his limits.

A smooth film with slapstick moments and an attractive tone and understandably the beginning of a successful collaboration between cameraman Jan de Bont and Paul Verhoeven who would make many films together, including Turkish Delight (1973), The 4th Man (1983) and Basic Instinct (1992).