Katie Tippel

I came across this film under the title "Hot Sweat" at my local video store, and rented it out of curiosity; I had seen many movies by this director, and always thought his work was severely underated. The movie really surprised me with it's unsensationalistic style and well done cinematography. Although the female lead is very beautiful, and manages to get undressed frequently, there is always a tension to her sexuality...she is forced to rely on it only because the audience is clearly made aware that on the other side is the penniless abyss. Rutger Haur plays totally against type as a foppish young bank officer who adopts her as his mistress.

I think most people today think of Holland as a totally liberal and affluent country. This film goes a long way towards dispelling that stereotype, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a (sometimes brutally) realistic picture of 19th century life among the underclass in Amsterdamn. I liked it.

From this movie, it is easy to see how the director made it out of Holland and landed in mainstream Hollywood. He takes a very serious subject, extreme poverty and how it leads to social uprising, and adds his personal light touches that almost make you forget the political subtext. The "finger shadow" scene before the rape was a touch of cinematic genius that I almost missed the first time around.

The ultimate lesson seems to me to be, of course, that we are all whores, it just depends on how much we can afford to spend on clothes.

One question, if she was so poor, how did she keep her roots died blonde?

This film is weighed down by its deeply inadequate ending which does not seem to want to connect itself with the themes of greed and hunger relayed throughout. Tonally, it's incomplete.

Whilst the record indicates that Rob Houwer is part of the problem as to why the ending is the way it is - it's frustrating to think that this can't be ranked alongside Verhoeven's more accomplished works like Starship Troopers, from what it could have been...

This feels quite a bit like a spiritual sequel to one of my favorite movies of all time, which I also perceive as perhaps the most underrated movie I can think of, Paul Verhoeven's debut feature film, Turkish Delight. This is also directed by Verhoeven and has the same two leads, the iconic Rutger Hauer in some of his earliest roles, and the utterly beautiful and charismatic Monique van de Ven. I guess there's a bit of a swap as Hauer is the main character in the previous, while van de Ven is most certainly the main character in this.

I expected less from this hardly-referenced second offering from Verhoeven, considering it's never even spoken of, but the combination of van de Ven's electric allure with that of Verhoeven's provocative, fast-paced directing keep this film riveting through every sequence. On paper, you'd think it might be a slow-burner, but it hardly ever feels the part. In summary, it's quite a simple film - a poor girl who is the eldest child in her extremely impoverished family seeks more out of life, and slowly, through recognizing the power of her own allure, amongst other things, she begins connecting with people who are a little bit richer, or a little bit more powerful - and so she makes her sporadic journey into higher society rather suddenly. Of course, one can only "pretend" to be something for so long...

If you're watching for Hauer, you'll find much more within his performance in the other early gems of Verhoeven (Spetters is another great one...I've yet to watch Soldier of Orange - That's the last of Verhoeven's Dutch classics remaining for me), but this film is absolutely worth watching regardless. There are bundles of intriguing, stylish, innovative, and very memorable sequences scattered throughout it. Specifically, one featuring a giant vat of intimidating green liquid, and one where many people are being shot in a dark alley!

All of Verhoeven's Dutch classics are more than worth exploring. This is no different. Fully on par with Spetters and The 4th Man. I love Paul Verhoeven films - he's truly one of the best that cinema ever had.

This movie details the struggle of young Dutch women,Keetje Tippel (Monique Van De Ven) from the countryside who moves with her family to Amsterdam in search of a better life only to find themselves living among filth, vermin and squalor in a slum. She finds work in various jobs where conditions are horrible and she is subjected to constant sexual harassment and eventually rape.

Finally she becomes a prostitute which ends up being her gateway to the good life as she becomes mistress to the banker, Hugo (Rutger Hauer) and later the respected wife of Hugo's wealthy friend.

This is an expose of the Dutch class-system in the 19th century and has socialist and feminist overtones. It ranks among the best of 1970's Dutch cinema and is easily the highlight of Monique Van De Ven's career.

Warning! Although there is some nudity and sexuality it is not done in celebration of sensuality but rather explores the dark side of exploitation of sex. This is a very serious film and not for those looking for light entertainment.