“Maybe it is a little different,” the renowned editor reflects on the contrast between Benedetta^* and Elle, in which Isabelle Huppert played the powerful businesswoman engaged in a strange, cagey relationship with the man who raped her. However, in the new film, Verhoeven is again asking viewers “to follow the story through a character who you may not 100% be able to understand or follow, or identify with.”

Ter Burg relishes the “subdued humour” which Verhoeven brings to his material. This certainly is not a comedy but it has a certain deadpan irony. “At the same time, we do take everything seriously. The balance is that we are not trying to ridicule any of it and we also do not want to overly mystify anything.”

He talks about finding the “right tonal balance” both in the editing and in the music, which was written by the brilliant British composer Anne Dudley (whose credits range from The Crying Game to Les Misérables).

After many years of working together, the editor ”absolutely” considers Verhoeven a friend as well as a colleague. “He is an experienced director who is very aware of what it is in the characters and the story that is important to him,” Ter Burg says of the legendary Dutch filmmaker behind such films as Robocop, Basic Instinct and Soldier Of Orange. “But he is very open to any input from the people he works with... he is always trying to keep an open mind.”

Benedetta has had a far longer gestation than originally intended. The filmmakers were originally on a tight schedule to finish it in time for Cannes 2019 but then Verhoeven needed hip surgery. There were complications following the operation. The post-production therefore had to be postponed. The film ended up being chosen for Cannes 2020 instead - but that edition of the festival did not happen because of Covid. It is therefore finally being unveiled a full two years later than planned.

“Basically, we kept working on the film. In a way, it also helped us a lot because it gave us a lot of time to reflect on things,” the editor says of the very lengthy post-production process. Verhoeven and Ter Burg were working for much of the time remotely from each other. They had completed the cut by last summer and are now looking forward finally to seeing it with an audience.

“It is absolutely frustrating to have to wait,” Ter Burg says of the delay. “I was really anxious to show the film to people. Once it is completed, you really want people to see it.” Nonetheless, the editor understood why an “expensive” and “complicated” film like this had to be held until the right moment. He accepted it would make no sense at all to show it when theatres were not yet fully open or were functioning at reduced capacity. Now, it will be seen in the circumstances for which it was intended.

When it comes to choosing new projects, Ter Burg rarely chooses the easy option anyway. Like Verhoeven, he is someone who likes to go left when everyone expects him to go right. He has worked on such epic projects as Martin Koolhoven’s Brimstone^** (a Dutch western, 2016) and such idiosyncratic works as Alex van Warmerdam’s Borgman^* (2013) which screened in competition at Cannes.

At the same time, the editor’s recent credits also include kids’ films like The Little Vampire 3D^** and Ainbo: Spirit Of The Amazon^**. Richard Claus, the director of those two films, recently described Ter Burg (approvingly) as “a man of very strong opinions” and as someone who always looks to make a creative contribution. That is a characterisation he is happy to accept. “I would argue that all great editors do.”

Benedetta is co-produced by Topkapi Films and sales are handled by Pathé International.

For more information on the Cannes Film Festival, click here.

For more information on Job ter Burg and his work, visit his website here.
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^*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund.
^**Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Production Incentive.