Synopsis: In the 1880s, Keetje, a beautiful young woman with an irrepressible spirit, moves to Amsterdam with her family. There her parents struggle to hold jobs, and Keetje can find only the most degrading work. Worse, she's subjected to police brutality and sexual abuse as the family tries to survive the squalor of their daily lives. Eventually, Keetje turns to the lucrative field of prostitution and meets the bohemian Hugo, who could be her ticket out of the slums.