In some ways Katie Tippel feels like a proto-Showgirls but instead revolving around the memoirs of an actual person. It's certainly more raw given that it's just Verhoeven's third feature but it's not without its own charm and style. There is a lot simmering beneath the surface and the story, while rather mundane, carries a unique metaphorical tension throughout the movie as Verhoeven depicts Katie's tragedies and successes from the gutter to wealth and back again over and over while mirroring the rise of Socialism in 19th Century Netherlands.
In some ways Katie Tippel feels like a proto-Showgirls but instead revolving around the memoirs of an actual person. It's certainly more raw given that it's just Verhoeven's third feature but it's not without its own charm and style. There is a lot simmering beneath the surface and the story, while rather mundane, carries a unique metaphorical tension throughout the movie as Verhoeven depicts Katie's tragedies and successes from the gutter to wealth and back again over and over while mirroring the rise of Socialism in 19th Century Netherlands.
