''Whores' Glory'' is a 2011 documentary by

Michael Glawogger Michael Glawogger (3 December 1959 – 23 April 2014) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. From 1981 to 1982, Glawogger studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, and from 1983 to 1989 at the Vienna Film Academy. Lik ...

. It shows the life of

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

s from Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico.

Synopsis

The film is divided into three locally defined episodes:

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

(

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

), Faridpur (

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

) and

Reynosa Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Metr ...

(

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

). The first part deals with the everyday work of prostitutes in Bangkok, in a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

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 Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''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 Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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" than outright praise. On RottenTomatoes.com, the film was given an 89% ranking by critics, with an average rating of 7.5/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the has film a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Andrew O'Hehir, writing for

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

, 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." Similarly, Stephen Holden, of the ''New York Times'', and Michael O'Sullivan, 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.

Awards

* Venice Film Festival 2011: Orizzonti Special Jury Prize * ''Österreichischer Filmpreis'' (Austrian Film Awards) 2012 for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1327628 2011 films Austrian documentary films Films directed by Michael Glawogger Documentary films about prostitution Films about prostitution in Mexico Films about prostitution in Thailand Prostitution in Bangladesh 2011 documentary films