R.I.P., Rutger Hauer

"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain." Oh, man. What can I say about Rutger Hauer's death at 75? One of the greatest actors of his––or any––generation, he brought operatic dimension, emotional intimacy, and a kind of unsettling perfection to his greatest films (BLADE RUNNER, SOLDIER OF ORANGE, FLESH + BLOOD, TURKISH DELIGHT), an elevating sense of fun to his silliest work (THE TENTH KINGDOM, BLIND FURY, PAST MIDNIGHT, WEDLOCK, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, his appearances in mindbending Guinness advertisements),  and something unexpected, strange, and considered to his lesser films (Hallmark's THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, BLEEDERS, DRACULA 3D, THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND), even when he was subtly conveying that the film in question did not deserve his talents. He probably deserved an Oscar for THE HITCHER. And SURVIVING THE GAME. And hell, maybe THE BLOOD OF HEROES. R.I.P., Rutger––and thank you for the work you left behind.

 
Rutger offers Ice-T a few of life's finer things before the deluge in SURVIVING THE GAME.


FLESH + BLOOD: "Rutger Hauer simmers and scowls––a calculating, towheaded, serpentine fiend, and murderer who might be the closest thing we've got to a 'hero.'"


A joy ride in BLIND FURY: "There's a hell of a lot of lip-pursing and brow-raising and eye-squinting, but instead of coming across as over-the-top, it's simply a means for Hauer to externalize our key suspension of disbelief– that a blind man can achieve near-supernatural feats of swordplay." 

THE HITCHER: "Now, apparently, C. Thomas became extremely afraid of Rutger Hauer for real during the shooting of this film. It's not hard to see why. Hauer transforms every interaction between himself and Howell into a theoretical hotbed of sadism, savagery, and primal sexual desires. Every time Hauer is near, you can tell that he's intently thinking about kissing C. Thomas, then maybe about snapping his neck afterward. Hauer is so deeply entrenched in the character, that he knows which buttons to press to make C. Thomas actually uncomfortable. C. Thomas knows that a hateful yet passionate kiss is not is the script, but when somebody as absolutely committed as Rutger is around, da script don't mean shit."


THE 10TH KINGDOM: "Sure, he could've phoned this in (like he did in Hallmark's TV remake of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE), but by gum, he's givin' it his all.  It's like THE HITCHER infiltrated the Disney universe– this is what I'm talkin' about!"