Red Sien 1975

Rooie Sien, Beppie Nooij Jr, is murdered in 1912 by her husband Ko Breman, Kees Brusse, who wants to drag her to Rotterdam. Sien works as a prostitute in Amsterdam, performing in café De Kikker and entertaining customers, sometimes accompanying them to bed, under the watch of a pimp Mooie Frans, Cor van Rijn. Her daughter Sientje is raised in Rotterdam by Ko’s parents, siblings in a world that will shape her future.

1923. Sientje is almost an adult and has an adventurous temperament. The neighbor’s son, Gerrit van Buren, Peter Faber, has a crush on Sientje, while she longs for something more exciting. She meets the artist Jan Meier, Jules Hamel, and is captivated by his art and smooth manners, leading her to ask him to teach her to sing and dance and to perform together. She lands at the establishment of Belze Marie, Rosy Parrish, and quickly becomes a celebrated star. Jan and Sien continue to perform in Belze’s café, but their relationship grows strained, especially when Sientje discovers she is pregnant. Sien’s father visits the café, recognizing echoes of his daughter in her, and he warns that she might end up in the gutter, a warning Sientje refuses to heed.

1932. Belze Marie and her husband run a sleek cabaret in Den Haag, and Jan and Sien follow them there. The harmony between them frays as Jan shows growing interest in the blond dancer Angelique, Geert de Jong. When Angelique and Jan begin a relationship, Sientje flees from the café to seek shelter elsewhere. On New Year’s Eve 1933, Sientje and Jan break up for good. Sientje’s father makes another appearance, and she heads back to Rotterdam to care for her aging grandparents, stepping away from the world she once pursued with such fevered ambition.