Following Billy Drago Another titan of this era has left the world. July 19 passed away Rutger Hauer, Dutch and American actor, director, screenwriter and producer.
Hauer was born on January 23, 1944 in the Dutch town of Breukelen, south of Amsterdam. His father taught acting at a local theater college, and his mother taught a drama course there.
An acting destiny was destined for Hauer since childhood, and he first appeared on the acting stage at the age of five.
Rutger was a naughty child, and at the age of 15 he ran away from home, was hired on his grandfather's merchant ship and went sailing for almost a year. Colorblindness did not allow him to continue his career as a sailor, so he returned home, entered evening school, and then the theater institute in Basel (Switzerland). Two years later, Hauer is hired as a soldier in the airborne troops, but after a couple of years he gets tired of it and, with the help of a doctor friend, he convincingly (who would doubt it) feigns mental instability. After spending some time in a psychiatric hospital for the mentally ill, Hauer returned to college, then entered an acting school in Amsterdam and received a place at the Royal Theater.
The number and variety of roles and genres performed by Hauer is amazing. This is historical cinema and classical drama (“Floris”, “Cyrano de Bergerac”), war cinema (“Escape from Sobibor”, “Inside the Third Reich” “Pastoral 1943”, “Soldier of Orange”, “Fatherland”), fantasy of various stripes (“Deadly Bonds”, “Seconds”, “Red Trail”, “Blade Runner”) and much more.
Dwelling on each of his professional incarnations and analyzing his filmography in detail is the subject of a large and deep article, but what facet of Hauer’s talent we definitely cannot ignore are his negative characters - all sorts of bandits, representatives of the forces of evil, maniacs and psychopaths that Hauer managed to shine. A chiseled hawk-like profile, an ironic curve of lips and piercing icy eyes are Hauer’s calling cards, although, of course, to say that the actor “excelled” only on his appearance would be an absolute lie. "Companion", in which he himself performed the most difficult car stunts, "Night hawks", where he was confronted by none other than the young and bearded Sylvester Stallone, “Dracula 3: Legacy”, another film adaptation "Salem Vampires" Stephen King, a legendary example of cyberbanking and neo-noir "Blade Runner", "Sin City" from tandem Rodriguez-Miller-Tarantino... the list of villains can be continued for a long time.
And since our site is related to fighting cinema, we cannot help but mention the wonderful action movie "Blind fury", in which Rutger played the lead role of blind Vietnam War veteran Nick Parker. For our country, this picture is a “tube” VHS legend, especially for those who were born in the early 80s. Based on a Japanese TV series "Zatoichi's Story" The film, then and now, looks original, fresh and charming, with excellent humor, beautiful music and colorful characters. For this role, Hauer took samurai sword lessons from Sho Kosugi, with whom the hero had the final battle. And I must admit that Hauer looked quite convincing with the sword.
To all other "Blind fury" - this is not only one of the best examples of the action genre, but also, perhaps, an ideal example of how remakes should be shot. Study, study, comrades!
He could become "RoboCop", but had a fight with Verhoeven, his “godfather” in cinema. Maybe it’s for the better, since walking 90% of the screen time in a helmet covering Hauer’s “trademark” eyes is a crime against the viewer. Many believe that if he had been born in the USA, and not in the Netherlands, and had not been torn between Europe and America, filming in the “dream factory” from the very beginning, he would have become a Hollywood star in a matter of years. There is an opinion that he could have “become Anthony Hopkins,” but he didn’t.
But he became Rutger Hauer.
I am waiting. I hope there will be something exciting.
I would like to mention Pasha as a person who has been an active participant in this project since…
Sad ending, albeit with a joke...
Added a video from the filming of "Twilight of the Warriors".