Whores' Glory

While the chitchatting girls of Bangkok may initially make you think it's actually not that bad, the back alley brothel in Bangladesh kicks you in the stomach. Remember while watching: 100 Taka = €0,95. And while the men are reduced to (nasty, ignorant, or at least naive) animals that can't help but exert their primal urges ('without the brothel all women would get raped all the time' is a telling quote), it's the madams' treatment of their girls that will truly horrify any viewer. The documentary ends slightly surrealistic, though not unsuitable, in a drug-fueled Mexican red light area.

What probably struck me most were the small rituals, often merely casual habits, that are used by the girls to keep hanging on in their incredibly hard life.

One can argue (as I'm sure has been done) whether 'dramatic' music in such a documentary is fitting. Nevertheless, the film is gripping, beautifully made, and if it wasn't such a nasty side of humanity the images and music would be enchanting. But without a happy end.

Might be my favorite documentary of all time - it really makes you feel the sorrow behind these poor women.

Whore's Glory is a documentary about prostitution. There is no voice over, no narration, no script. It merely records a visual documentation of the lives of prostitutes in three different venues (located in Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico).

Of course the film was edited, but other than that, it provides an unfiltered view of prostitution. It focuses on the prostitutes themselves, enough so that the viewer sees the conditions they live in/under. They sometimes talk to the camera. We learn of their sorrows, their problems, and how they deal with the realities of prostitution.

In Thailand, the girls do not seem as victimized. Oddly, some of them spend much of their money on the "bar boys" who entertain women for money.

In Bangladesh, these women are truly victims of economic hardship. Women bring their daughters into the business. Society is so stratified that people's choices are limited. The caste system still controls much of life there.

Because the camera is just an observer, there is no glorification of the job. In all three locations, waiting is a large part of the job. Religion and superstitious mysticism play a part in the women's lives, just as for others in their societies.

One woman in Bangladesh who comes across as more sensitive, perhaps more intelligent explains the horrible reality she must confront every day, saying "Women are unhappy creatures." Philosophically, she wonders why it is that way and how it can change.

I wasn't sure what to expect when my wife picked out this movie to watch but man was this movie ever thought provoking and interesting. What makes the film unique is that there is no narration or cuts to "experts" and hardly any interviews. The camera is more or less a fly on the wall. The only negative this is that the depressing music is cranked a little too high in the mix and is really obtrusive at times.

The movie covers prostitution in Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico. The documentary in specific looks at a midrange operation in Thailand and a sad and depressing filthy brothel in Bangladesh with young girls, and a low rent operation in Mexico. The movie is very effective.

Some complain that he isn't painting a fair picture of prostitution leaving out the nice clubs in Amsterdam and Nevada. In fact in the Mexican town you can see a big building in many scenes with the word Lipstick on it. This is a nice strip club with good looking girls who you can take upstairs for about five times what the girls who make it into the documentary charge, but instead he shows a sorry strip club with very disturbing looking girls and the low rent section of the Tolerance Zone with crack ladies of the night.

If he just showed the glitzy brothels, this movie wouldn't have nearly the same impact as it does. The Thai joint is the only glitzy joint here with hairdressers and makeup people dolling them up before the night. The Bangladesh and Mexican places don't even have running water and the girls are lucky if they even have a mirror.

Bottom line: this movie is really great. Even my wife liked it and she usually hates documentaries and anything with subtitles... I am glad that she picked it out. Only the music detracts from this moving documentary.

...but it is important. It has stuck with me, & over the years, I've thought about these women. If a movie sticks with you, then it succeeded. And this movie succeeded.

Any reviewer who didn't "like" this, missed the point. And as for that "top" review, who said the film makers didn't delve into the prostitutes lives enough, what makes you think their profession didn't dominate their daily existence? Sex work would taint bonding with others, except for the small few that share in their mutual destruction (other prostitutes, other addicts, etc). This is an important movie, everyone should watch. (And how can you be have the top review with 36 down votes?)