whore's glory

documentario

30/30

For his third documentary, Michael Glawogger travelled to Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico, searching for stories, pictures and insights about the oldest profession  in the world. There is no other subject as charged with prejudice, romanticization and emotions as prostitution.  The title WHORE'S GLORY strikes as a mark of respect, but also embodies an unadorned glimpse into the present-day working conditions for prostitutes. Three different mentalities are depicted while contemplating upon their handling of purchasable sexuality.

The "Fish Tank“ in Bangkok shows us a thoroughly organized, sterile and lighthearted form of prostitution. After having punched in with their time cards, the girls present themselves in a huge glass case. The potential suitors observe them from the other side, having a drink and a chat, turning to the brothel staff for advice.

The "City of Joy“in Faridpur depicts an alternative matriarchal concept within a run-down and labyrinthine red-light district. The madams push their girls to work harder and teach them the craft of sex work. At noon, salesmen leave the bazaar and spend their lunch breaks on some love for sale.
"La Zona“ in Reynosa is a little world on its own where images  of the grim reaper and the longing for „a beautiful death“ can be found at every corner. Almost everyone here does drugs, especially crack. The women are waiting in the cold for their costumers who sit in their warm big SUVs and drive along an endless row of cottages, looking for their object of desire.

Almost paranthetically, Glawogger shows the disproportion between the sacred and the profane as well as the intersection of religion and prostitution. Three Thai women bow down in front of a small temple bevor entering their brothel. A Bengali madam teaches a newcomer that oral sex is off-limits because a woman’s lips are to speak the holy words of the Koran. In Mexico, christian symbols in the form of statues, paintings and tattoos are omnipresent.

"My experience as a documentary film director dealing with the issue of prostitution has taught me one thing: the working girls know exactly the voyeuristic desires of the media and they hold their privacy sacred. They know that there are numerous contradictory ideas, beliefs and judgements about their way of life and that “ordinary“ people are attracted to its strangeness in comparison to their own. As a basic principle, you are not welcome in this world because you are an unwanted  intruder who steals their time and it is a real struggle to provide confidence and mutual trust".

So Glawogger’s great achievement is the fact that he got through to the women and gave them an opportunity to talk freely and fearlessly about their lives. What also strikes me a lot is its soundtrack, which is a  mix of songs, written score and also the music that is heard and played on site. Glawogger chose very atmospheric, strong and sometimes angry love songs, all performed by female vocalists - like Cocorosie, Martina Topley-Bird and P J Harvey - which seems to connect the women’s stories and fates to an emotional collective. 

Together with Megacities and Workingman’s death, WHORE'S GLORY constitutes a cinematic trinity about our globalized world of economy. The movie implies also a trinity itself, having the structure of a cinematic altarpiece, a triptych: Having strictly seperated his movie in those three chapters, GIawogger puts his focus on observation, keeping a regardful distance to his protagonists. Captured in highly aesthetic tableau-like pictures, he lets them talk very openly about their daily lives, their hopes and problems. Also their male costumers may have a say, but those comments are banal and crude, standing in stark contrast to their female counterparts. They don’t seem to feel ashamed like in Western European culture, where men bashfully sneak into peepshows and brothels, hoping they won’t be caught.

WHORE'S GLORY shows how prostitution might bet he lubricant for economy and in addition, the toughest business of all. Although Glawogger chose to play the role of a silent and reserved observer, he comes very close to his protagonists. His documentary goes much deeper then other films about this subject, leaving a tremendeous impression in the minds and hearts of the audience.

04:09:2011