The Sounds of Paul Verhoeven

If you think of a director who combines biting satire and prescient socio-cultural commentary with over-the-top B-movie aesthetics, one name should immediately come to mind: Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director who has made a career out of exactly that potent and offbeat combination. In visual terms, Verhoeven’s “look” is best represented by the lurid image of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bulging eyes and tongue in Total Recall. When it comes to sound, Verhoeven—whose last feature, Elle, starring Isabelle Huppert