Filth and Wisdom

Filth and Wisdom
Directed by Madonna
Produced by Nicola Doring
Written by Madonna
Dan Cadan
Starring Eugene Hütz
Holly Weston
Vicky McClure
Richard E. Grant
Olegar Fedoro
Cinematography Tim Maurice Jones
Edited by Russell Icke
Production
company
Semtex Films, HSI London
Distributed by IFC Films
Release dates
  • 13 February 2008 (2008-02-13) (Berlin International Film Festival)
  • 17 October 2008 (2008-10-17) (limited release)
Running time
 81 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Russian
Box office $354,628[1]

Filth and Wisdom is a 2008 British comedy-drama film directed by Madonna, starring Eugene Hütz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure and Richard E. Grant. It was filmed on location in London, England, from 14 to 29 May 2007. Locations included two actual strip clubs in Hammersmith and Swiss Cottage; both owned by the Secrets Clubs chain. Additional scenes were shot in July 2007.

The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2008 which was attended by Madonna and cast members Hütz, Weston and McClure. It did not receive many positive reviews. On 17 October 2008 the film went into limited release, as well as being simultaneously released "On Demand" on most cable providers. It is the first motion picture production for Madonna's company, Semtex Films.

Plot

Described as a comedy/drama/musical/romance, the story revolves around a Ukrainian immigrant named A.K. (Hütz) who finances his dreams of rock glory by moonlighting as a cross-dressing dominatrix and his two female flatmates: Holly (Weston), a ballet dancer who works as a stripper and pole-dancer at a local club and Juliette (McClure), a pharmacy assistant who dreams of going to Africa to help starving children.

The Gypsy punk band that appears in the film is portrayed by real-life Gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello, who also contributed three songs to the film's soundtrack. The band's lead singer, Eugene Hütz, portrays the main character – a character with a philosophical attitude towards life. Madonna allowed additional dialogue written by Hütz himself to be included in the film.

Reception

The film met with generally negative reviews: the movie website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 28% of critics gave the film positive write-ups based on 53 reviews.[2] The Times Online claimed, "Madonna has done herself proud"[3] and The Telegraph described the film as "not an entirely unpromising first effort" but went on to say "Madonna would do well to hang on to her day job."[4] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "Well, it had to happen. Madonna has been a terrible actor in many, many films and now – fiercely aspirational as ever – she has graduated to being a terrible director."[5] Jonathan Romney of Screen International called the film "a good-humoured, averagely average vanity project" and "a cheap and cheerful comedy," adding that "Madonna simply cannot direct actors."[6] The New Yorker's Anthony Lane panned the film, saying that "in technical terms, more professional productions than this are filmed and cut on iMovie, by ten-year-olds, a thousand times a day" and that "if the actors were paid according to their talents, they cannot have cost more than forty bucks."[7]

Cast

Production credits

References

  1. ↑ "Filth and Wisdom (2008)". Box Office Mojo. 2008-11-23. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  2. ↑ "Filth and Wisdom Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  3. ↑ Christopher, James (February 14, 2008). "'Review: Madonna's Filth and Wisdom'". The Times (London: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk). Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  4. ↑ Johnston, Sheila (February 14, 2008). "'Filth and Wisdom: Don't give up the day job, Madonna'". The Daily Telegraph (London: telegraph.co.uk). Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  5. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (February 14, 2008). "'Review: Madonna's Filth and Wisdom', publisher=http://www.guardian.co.uk/". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  6. ↑ Romney, Jonathan (2008-02-29). "Filth And Wisdom". Screen International (1634). p. 20.
  7. ↑ Lane, Anthony (2008-10-20). "Inside Jobs". The New Yorker (Condé Nast). Retrieved 2008-10-19.

External links

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