Katie's Passion
- Css Darth-Sheol
- Apr 19, 2015
- 5 min read
I'm not a Paul Verhoeven fan exactly. He likes to be gratuitous in ways that often detract from the source material which matters mostly because he sometimes shows good taste in choosing projects. Total Recall (taken from a Philip K. Dick story) and Robocop are prime examples. If he chose crappy subjects I wouldn't care enough about his movies to worry about their content so much.
In the case of Katie's Passion (originally titled “Keetje Tipple” and sometimes called “Katie” or “Cathy Tipple”) he chooses the autobiographical writings of Neel Doff. I'd never heard of her until I looked her up (after seeing a note in the movie suggesting it was based on actual events), but evidently she is a highly respected Dutch author.
A poor family moves to Amsterdam in search of a better life, but all they find is more destitution. Their low social stature invites scorn, and even other members of the lower class treat them badly. It just seems like everyone is in a perpetually bad mood, watching out only for themselves.
Katie is the good-hearted girl of the family. She's young enough to be innocent but too beautiful for her own good in this kind of society. This is her story as she struggles through life with a drunkard of a father, a mother who pushes her daughters into prostitution so she can have their money, a nasty sister who could care less about anyone else as long as she gets what she wants, and a bunch of younger mouths that need feeding without the ability to contribute to the income of the family.
Between her hooker sister, men raping and otherwise taking advantage of her, and the sorrowful need brought on by the inability of anyone in her family to hold a job (even her tramp sister) Katie becomes a tramp herself. A fortunate meeting during her street walking gains her work as a model which leads to her eventually rising in status upon catching the eye of a bachelor banker.
Hugo (played by Rutger Hauer) seems to be a dream come true until he reveals he is hurting for money. Will he marry another woman for her money? Will Katy become his mistress for some of that same money?
Despite not liking Katie's Passion much I was impressed with the characters and the depiction of the destitute life that is the source of Katie's struggles. It stirred some emotions in me: sorrow at the need of the people, anger at the mistreatment of lovely young Katie, disgust at the actions of a mother who couldn't care less about the well being of her daughter as long as she got a sausage to eat. It's no wonder it seemed realistic to me since it turns out that it's based on reality.
Whatever stirrings I had, though, were minor. Mostly I suppose it's because I had no interest in the subject matter. It seems like a Pretty Woman kind of story in some ways. I didn't like that movie, either. It's just not my thing.
The pace of the movie it slow with stiff acting which is probably at least in part due to the English dubbing (it was shot in Dutch). The girl playing Katie is likeable. Rutger is not bad though this is a far cry from his later performances (like Roy Batty). His part in the movie is relatively small despite his name being used as if he were the star. Some of the other actors are fair I guess.
I suppose if this had been an American produced film it might have had enough polish to improve the look and feel although it might have also stolen some of the authenticity of it. Perhaps with a prettier presentation the drama might have shown through a little more. Then again, being low budget and made in the 70's maybe it would have been the worse for the Hollywood influence.
MORALITY:
There isn't much strong language (though it includes some religious slurs) and only one scene of relatively mild but deadly violence
However, when it comes to sexuality and nudity the movie barely avoided an X rating. There is said to be an unrated version reinstating some of the more explicit shots cut to bring the rating down to an R, but I couldn't find any details and don't know for sure which version I saw.
The subject matter involves a lot of prostitution and molestation as well as the more romantic relationships that become sexual.
Paul makes it a point to develop Katie as young and innocent then finds frequent opportunities to show her naked from all sides with closeups of her body thrown in. I suppose I could understand having some shots of nudity in the rape and molestation scenes as a way to underscore the loss of her innocence, but after a while it starts feeling like Paul is shouting “hey look at this pretty girl I got to strip off in front of the camera! I'm going to show you every inch of her just because I can.” The film itself starts to feel exploitative.
In addition to Katie's nudity are full-frontal shots of boys and other girls, an attempt at the molestation of a very young boy, phallic images, and a short but somewhat graphic (and by “graphic” I mean nearly pornographic) shot of female masturbation. And dead puppies. Had to throw that in somewhere, and no I'm not joking.
SPIRITUALITY:
On a real-world level I really did begin feeling like Paul was taking advantage of having such a pretty young actress willing to strip off for the camera.
Plot-wise this is very much a look at a godless society. Virtually nobody cares for anyone but themselves, girls exist for the sexual pleasure of men, and material possessions are what matter. Many families struggle with poverty, but Katie's mother would rather prostitute her daughter than take any positive steps towards improving the situation.
When we abandon “love your neighbor as yourself” and other guidelines of helping our fellow man we head towards a society of people looking out only for themselves. Katie's life does improve which leads to her thoughts of the less fortunate still trapped in that life, so there is a smidgen of hope here, but it's not the kind of hope that compares to that which God offers.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The story itself has some merit especially if you're into stories about slum street struggles or the history of Dutch society. The author, as I said earlier, is evidently respected for her work so that may hold interest for some, and there is some historical truth to the events portrayed. The movie is not without its redeeming qualities, but the exploitative feel it generates detracts from the dramatic impact.
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