Whores` Glory - A Triptych

With his documentary Whores` Glory - A Triptych, director Michael Glawogger ventures into the difficult subject of prostitution. He takes a behind-the-scenes look at the world's oldest profession by observing women in three locations. In Bangkok, Bangladesh and Mexico, the camera accompanies prostitutes as they go about their daily lives, allowing a completely unvarnished look into a parallel world dominated by humiliation, exploitation, drugs and, of course, money.

It is fascinating in a way how different the working conditions are, how differently the women deal with their fate and how much the whole thing is alike in the end. In Bangkok, for example, the women are presented like fresh meat behind a glass wall in the so-called fish tank and made palatable to the customer almost like cattle by the staff of the establishment. In a prostitute ghetto in Bangladesh, the conditions are equally humiliating, but even harsher. And then in a settlement in Mexico, the misery seems to have finally reached its peak.

It is interesting that they most of the women who have their say here adhere to their religion. In Bangkok, for example, they stop at a statue of Buddha on their way to work, the girls in Bangladesh try to adhere to the dictates of the Koran even when they are performing services, and in Mexico, too, statues of saints are ubiquitous. In stark contrast are the expressions of the johns, which especially in Mexico shows the very ugly face of the male sex.

Whores` Glory - A Triptych is not an easy film. The documentary is certainly ambitious and also interesting. But unfortunately, it is also way too long. And that can have the consequence that a certain dullness sets in with the viewer - and be it out of pure self-protection. Because being confronted with such concentrated suffering is not a pleasant experience, which the psyche can counteract by shutting down emotionally. And since the quite important message of the film has already become clear after a few moments, it is difficult to maintain the feelings worthy of what is shown here throughout the entire two hours.

Whoever nevertheless wants to face this challenge and deal with the subject matter, Whores` Glory - A Triptych can definitely be recommended, as here an insight into the world of global prostitution is allowed, which shocks, surprises, infuriates and saddens, which breaks with taboos completely unadorned and unenlightened. It's well worth seeing for viewers who can engage with the heavy subject matter and the overly long running time - even if that's actually hard to say with a film like this.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp