Herbert Curiël

Biography

After an international career as a supporting actor in films such as Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962) and Cleopatra (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1963) and as an assistant scriptwriter, Curiël drew attention in 1970 when he made a controversial short film about a Greek political refugee called De aktivist. Dutch politicians feared diplomatic relations with Greece would be disrupted. This controversy provided much free publicity for Curiël. In 1975, Curiël made Het jaar van de kreeft, adapted from the novel by Hugo Claus. His film Cha-Cha - as exciting and chaotic as Curiël's life itself - came out in 1979, and in 1989 Rituelen was released. Herbert Curiël had his own production company, Black Tulip.