Filth and Wisdom

Plot

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

Production

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, Hütz, portrays the main character; a character with a philosophical attitude towards life. Madonna included additional dialogue written by Hütz.

Reception

Filth and Wisdom debuted in Berlin International Film Festival with mixed reviews. On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 24% approval rating, based on 62 reviews with an average rating of 3.94/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Filth and Wisdom, while certainly ambitious, is mostly unconvincing and incoherent." The Times Online claimed, "Madonna has done herself proud" 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." 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." 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." The New Yorkers 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."

Cast

• Ade as DJ
• Olegar Fedoro as A.K.'s Father
• Eugene Hütz as A.K.
• Holly Weston as Holly
• Vicky McClure as Juliette
• Richard E. Grant as Professor Flynn
• Stephen Graham as Harry Beechman
• Inder Manocha as Sardeep
• Shobu Kapoor as Sardeep's wife
• Elliot Levey as Businessman
• Clare Wilkie as Chloe
• Hannah Walters as Businessman's wife

References

References

1. (23 November 2008). "Filth and Wisdom (2008)". Box Office Mojo.
2. (2012-01-23). "Film/TV Venue Hire at Secrets".
3. (14 February 2008). "Madonna Booed, First Film Meets Mixed Reviews". [[Der Spiegel (website).
4. "Filth and Wisdom Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes.
5. "Filth and Wisdom Reviews".
6. Christopher, James. (14 February 2008). "'Review: Madonna's Filth and Wisdom'". The Times.
7. Johnston, Sheila. (14 February 2008). "'Filth and Wisdom: Don't give up the day job, Madonna'". The Daily Telegraph.
8. Bradshaw, Peter. (14 February 2008). "'Review: Madonna's Filth and Wisdom'". The Guardian.
9. Romney, Jonathan. (29 February 2008). "Filth And Wisdom".
10. Lane, Anthony. (20 October 2008). "Inside Jobs".