Whores' Glory

Whores’ Glory is a 2011 documentary by Michael Glawogger. It shows the life of prostitutes from three different cultures: Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico.

Whores’ Glory
DVD cover
Directed byMichael Glawogger
Produced byErich Lackner, Tommy Pridnig, Peter Wirthensohn
Written byMichael Glawogger
Music byJohn Zorn
CinematographyWolfgang Thaler
Edited byMonika Willi
Release date
2011
Running time
119 minutes
CountryAustria, Germany
LanguageThai, Bengali, Spanish

Synopsis

The film is divided into three locally defined episodes: Bangkok (Thailand), Faridpur (Bangladesh) and Reynosa (Mexico).

The first part deals with the everyday work of prostitutes in Bangkok, in a brothel called the Fish Tank. The prostitutes sit in a brightly lit glass room and are chosen by clients by the number used to identify them.

The second part is about a vast brothel called the City of Joy, in the town of Faridpur, Bangladesh. There, 600 to 800 women work in a confined space. In one scene, a madame buying a prostitute from another madame haggles over the price of the girl.

The third part takes place in the city of Reynosa, near the Texas border. There it is common, as in other Mexican cities, to designate the legal areas for prostitution as zonas de tolerancia (tolerance zones). The entrance to the Zona is secured with barriers and is constantly monitored by the police.

Critical response

Critics and audiences responded more with respect for Glawogger's self-described “cinematic triptych on prostitution”[1] than outright praise.

On RottenTomatoes.com, the film was given an 89% ranking by critics, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[2] Audiences enjoyed the film as well. 74% of viewers "liked the film", and earned an average audience rating of 3.8/5.[2]

Andrew O’Hehir, writing for Salon, applauded “the film’s insistence that the women Glawogger meets...remain defiantly individual, even in the face of a system of sexual and economic exploitation they cannot (or at least do not) resist.”[3] Similarly, Stephen Holden, of the New York Times,[4] and Michael O'Sullivan,[5] of the Washington Post, praised the film for the non-judgmental stance it takes towards the sex workers it encounters.

Finally, critics seemed to praise both the remarkable amount of access granted to Glawogger in shooting Whores’ Glory and the hands-off approach he adopted. The film presents itself to its audience without the aid of narrations or commentary.[5][6]

Awards
  • Venice Film Festival 2011: Orizzonti Special Jury Prize
  • Österreichischer Filmpreis (Austrian Film Awards) 2012 for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography[7]
gollark: But I was blown up, you took stuff, my items got blown up too, so who knows what I've lost.
gollark: Well, SOME of it, yes.
gollark: Well, factions could be kind of fun, being randomly ambushed by a vanished player and not being able to recover items because some DODECAGON doesn't have graves or keepinv and they were stolen/blown up... is not.
gollark: ... hi.
gollark: oh, how goes the mob farm?

References
  1. "WHORES' GLORY - a film by Michael Glawogger". www.whoresglory.com. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  2. "Whores' Glory (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
  3. ""Whores' Glory": A riveting, humane prostitution documentary". Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  4. Holden, Stephen (2012-04-26). "'Whores' Glory,' a Documentary by Michael Glawogger". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  5. Whores' Glory, retrieved 2015-12-13
  6. "'Whores' Glory' review: Grim view of prostitution". SFGate. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  7. "Whore's Glory". Sydney Film Festival. June 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
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