Keetje Tippel (1975) is a biopic based on a series of autobiographical works by Neel Doof (1858 to 1942), who started to write late in life. She was then living in Belgium, and the books were in French, as she was more fluent by then in French than in her native Dutch. Her books were praised for their absolute honesty in describing her early life, and hence the life of the Dutch lower class at the start of the industrial revolution under the monarchy. One of the things that makes this film so interesting to me is that, true to Doof's honesty, the film is very honest. It would have been easy to romanticize, and show the peasant proletariat as friendly, good-natured, industrious and united against tyranny. Paul Verhoeven recognized that some of the poor actually react badly to a lifetime of abuse, and become unpleasant people.

Three examples come to mind. Keetje's mother is a baby factory, but seems to be breeding children for the express purpose of exploiting them, as she does with Keetje, forcing her to become a streetwalker when her older sister is fired from the whorehouse, then spends her first earnings on a sausage for herself. The second is Keetje's sister, played by Hannah de Leeuwe. An elderly customer is not pleased with his three choices of women, one of whom is Leeuwe. Keetje happens to be in the building selling hats, and Leeuwe talks her into letting the old letch fondle her thighs while Leeuwe masturbates on a sofa. Leeuwe gained a lot of weight for this part, and the masturbation scene is brilliantly photographed partly in a ceiling mirror. It is at this point that Keetje learns that her sister is a prostitute, and that she is nearly the sole support for the large family. The third example is the women who work with Keetje in a wool dyeing sweat shop. Even though they are from the same social level she is, they are very cruel to her. Also, when she sings a socialist song, they counter with a patriotic song. Despite what they are living through, they are loyal to the House of Orange.

Keetje Tippel would be properly translated Katie the Streetwalker. Monique van de Ven as Keetje, moves quickly from streetwalker to artists model to kept woman, but it was a much more painful process for Doof. We are given a hint in the opening scene that Keetje will amount to something. She is reading Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, while her sister is screwing a sailor for a loaf of bread and some bacon. Keetje clearly has aspirations. So, in the end, the film is hopeful, even though it depicts abject poverty and the abuse of the upper class.

Something about Verhoeven's work speaks to me in a very personal way. He doesn't make films for critics, other than one of his early Dutch projects, in which he added a bunch of artsy symbolism as a joke on the critics. As predicted, the critics loved the film. He uses what he calls hyper-reality, and is not afraid to take you into the bathroom, indeed into the toilet contents, to make an impression. He loves to shock audiences. My only criticism of his work is that he manipulates audiences with mis-direction, seemingly for the pure joy of it. Basic Instincts is an example of that, and is my least favorite of his films. Even those who berate Showgirls acknowledge that he does a great job with nudity, photography and art/set design. I find it interesting that so many people spend so much time criticizing Showgirls. For a "bad film," they all watch it, think about it, and spend hours writing about it.

In a feature length commentary, Verhoeven explains that there were not many films being made in the Netherlands while he was there, and that he always used the same people, as he was familiar with them, they were always available, and they were glad for the work. I find it a very well-made film, about a topic I find interesting. The grade, however, reflects cross-over appeal, and this film has little. C+