MOVIES: Holland’s 17th-century tulip bubble
In full bloom
It’s the naysayers’ favourite comparison to the current frenzy over bitcoin: "Remember how it ended for the Dutch with the tulips?" they ask. Well you probably don’t, given that that particular floral bubble burst in the 17th century. For a delightful refresher on what actually went down in the Netherlands, catch Tulip Fever at the cinema. The film has a great cast, including Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz and England’s favourite national treasure, Dame Judi Dench. With a Vermeer-like setting and a backdrop of bulb trading and general tulip-investing hysteria, this is a brooding, at times overly complicated, cautionary tale about love, lust and avarice.
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