4/5 The Velvet Underground
  by Amaranth (Northern California)
"Tipping the Velvet" is an engrossing three-part Sapphic melodrama set in Victorian England. Kitty (Rachael Stirling,who looks like her famous mother Diana Rigg) dreams of a life beyond that of an oyster girl. She goes to the theater,and finds a male impersonator,Nan (Keeley Hawes) Kitty goes from being Nan's fan to being Nan's lover. Their romance has the exuberance of first love. When Kitty goes home to be with her family, she is heartbroken when her sister rejects her for loving Nan. To make matters worse, she finds Nan in a marriage of convenience to the ironically named Mr. Bliss. Kitty pretends to be a male rent boy to earn her keep. She is found by the ruthless Lady Diana (Anna Chancellor) They have a tainted love.

The Lady Diana segment serves as a bridge. Kitty finds herself in the lesbian demimonde that seems to fit all the negative stereotypes of the LGBT community. Kitty considers herself Lady Diana's love slave, until she's liberated by having wild sex with a servant (Sally Hawkins,also from "Fingersmith") during an orgy.

Destitute, a social worker Florence (Jodhi May) saves her from a life on the streets. Florence also introduces Kitty to socialism. Kitty is torn between Nan--who wants an extramarital affair--and the devoted Florence. Who does Kitty choose?

"Tipping the Velvet" is a colorful,fast-moving melodrama. Kitty is a sympathetic character.It has a strong cast and strong writing. Come, jump over the velvet rope....

4/5 Good... but...
  by Hidden_Voice81 (Castaic, CA United States)
I enjoy Sarah Waters. Mostly because of her novels' subject matter being at the opposite end of what the Victorian era would have never wanted you to see, thus forcing much of society to become like an underworld which was known about by everyone, yet was never talked about. This film was enjoyable, but I must admit, I found the sex scenes to be a tad vulgar. Unlike Fingersmith, which I thought handled this with a much more artistically stylized mood, Tipping the Velvet seemed to be a bit more in your face when it didn't need to be. I understand that it deals with lesbianism, and that the crew involved with making this perhaps felt like making a bold statement... but the abrasiveness with which they filmed the sex scenes made this film feel like it went a bit too far into the realm of erotica, which I would never deem Sarah Waters's books to be. All in all, its still a heartbreaking film. Yet I feel that Fingersmith will always outshine this film by far. I attribute that mostly to Rupert Evans, Elaine Cassidy, Imedla Staunton, and Sally Hawkins.

5/5 awesome
  by Maria Kontos (Lake Worth, Florida)
this movie is the absolute best if you are a woman and you are stuck in a precarious position!!!

5/5 Victorian England .... You Have to Love it!
  by InfoSeeker (Northeast)
This movie is excellent! Typical Sara Waters interleaving and this was produced flawlessly! The "added bonuses" were awesome! A must see movie!
I actually had to stop it and go do something else at one point because I didn't want to see what I thought was going to happen ..... that's how involved I was.

I just ordered the paperback, backwards for me but I just have to read it now!

4/5 Brits know how to make em!
  by Jenniferthecyclist (West Hollywood)
The British films seam to spead more money than the Americans on thier gay films. This is a totally rich film and really good story about love and betrayl....like a good novel.
J