Katie Tippel

Director Paul Verhoeven had agreed to do the movie based on a elaborate synopsis, in which the story of protagonist Keetje Tippel was told in parallel with a period drama depicting the social circumstances and political unrest of the time. With pre-production well under way, he and screenwriter Gerard Soeteman elaborated the synopsis into a complete script, but it was vetoed as being too expensive by producer Rob Houwer. He ordered them to focus on the personal drama and remove most of the social issues, including several scenes of mass rebellion and revolt that were Verhoeven's main reasons for taking on the project.

A few more explicit shots of the rape scene were cut to avoid an "X" rating in the U.S. They are restored on home video in an unrated version.