Whore (1991)

Absolute garbage. Totally irredeemable. No humor. Disgusting, stupid, pointless. Clunky acting and directing! It seems like a film student's junior year thesis. Rubbish.The movie opens with a prostitute, remarkable pretty for a street hooker, standing by the roadway with lots of 'honks,' looking for customers. Some dude pulls up and they discuss what she is willing to do for what price. The man bluntly says, "I want to f--k you up the a-s!" and she says, "Why don't you stick it up our own ass hole, creep" and he replies, "I would if I could!" This is the only humor in the entire film. Seriously. They allude to a brutal gang rape of the prostitute, then show her with bruises, stockings trashed, etc. It was pretty upsetting to watch because it seemed realistic. This movie is totally irredeemable. I had to turn it off after about 30 minutes of pure drek. It's VERY BORING and choppy. The movie does not flow well at all. The prostitute directly addressing the camera and 'breaking the fourth wall' just seems like a gimmick after about 20 minutes. This is no Ferris Bueller. This is trash, exploitation and a horrible script all together. Shows LA for the Urban wasteland that it truly is!

Although he continued to work profusely in the medium which gave him his start, this was the last proper theatrical film for Ken Russell until 2002's semi-amateurish THE FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER (which, perhaps unsurprisingly, did become his feature-length swan song for the silver screen); given its theatrical origins as a British play called "Bondage" – written by a former taxi driver and basing it on stories he was told by his own streetwalking customers! – it is not as visually stylized as the movies the director is most renowned – or vilified – for but he still opens it out somewhat by shooting it on location in Los Angeles Appropriately enough, it stars American actress Theresa Russell (no relation to the director) who, at the time of shooting, was married to Ken's chief rival for the title of the most visionary British film-maker of his era, Nicolas Roeg who, like Ken, had a penchant for turning pop idols into tentative and temporary film stars!The seedy world of pimps, prostitutes and "tricks" is right up Ken's alley and one he had already visited more effectively 7 years previously in one of his most notorious films, CRIMES OF PASSION; tellingly, this more realistic treatment went by almost unnoticed. In fact, Theresa tells her story in flashback and often resorts to interacting with the audience (as it were) by directly speaking to the camera in lengthy monologues. Among the episodes in her past life that are depicted is a marriage to a boozing hunk (hilariously, he comes home one day, when she is almost at the end of her pregnancy and, despite her having diligently prepared his meal, he proceeds to puke into his salad bowl!); earlier on, the first 'client' she meets is a puking tramp lying on the pavement and then a colored, perennially barefooted street-performing masochist (played by Antonio Fargas from TV's STARSKY AND HUTCH) who becomes a recurring presence throughout the film…as does an Indian bike-rider who insists Theresa foregoes the 'rubber' if she agrees to take him on as a customer (which, naturally, doom his prospects)! After much abuse suffered from plying her trade on the streets – getting gangbanged in a van and thanklessly dumped on the pavement, after which she is cared for by a kindly Jack Nance – she is 'tricked' {sic} (through the staging of a rescue from a would-be attempted rape inside a car) into employing a seemingly classy but sadistic thug as her pimp (Benjamin Mouton); he takes her out to an elegant dinner (served by an uncredited – and sarcastic – Ken Russell himself!) but, obviously, she is no 'fair lady' and proceeds to make an ass of him in front of the other diners. He soon pays her back with dividends by brutishly interrupting the temporary idyll with a friendly dyke into which she had eventually escaped. Like Kathleen Turner's character in CRIMES OF PASSION before her (incidentally, as an in-joke, a porn movie on the marquee is called "China Blue" – which had actually been the title under which that film was released in Italy!), "Liz" is also into servicing old men: one is a regular inside an old people's home – with a bunch of nearby resting residents as gleeful 'witnesses'; the other dies on the 'job' – at which point the pimp reappears...but so does Fargas who swiftly saves the day by slitting the latter's throat!For the record, the most notable films to revolve exclusively around the milieu of prostitutes are most of Kenji Mizoguchi's films featuring downtrodden geishas, Federico Fellini's NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957), Jean-Luc Godard's VIVRE SA VIE (1962) and Luis Bunuel's BELLE DE JOUR (1967); this is not to say that WHORE in any way ever approaches their level of artistry but, one thing it certainly has that they do not is an amusingly crude and sexist Ska theme tune called "Doing The Bang" sung over the opening and closing credits by an anonymous band called Fascinating Force! By the way, for this viewing I again had to acquire at the very last minute a superior copy to the one I had originally owned (since the latter was evidently edited – running 78 minutes against its official length of 85) and, for what it is worth, the film is also available in one full segment on "You Tube"!

The night of confession for one "that walks" hooking while trying to dodge a homicidal pimp, Blake(Benjamin Mouton)who she wishes to abandon if he doesn't find & kill her first. Theresa Russell portrays Liz as bluntly honest, no-nonsense about her job and what comes with the territory of being a hooker. She seems a bit uneducated and a tad obnoxious, but, at the same time, you can't take your eyes of her because you never know what is about to come spewing out. Antonio Fargas portrays Rasta, a street denizen for whom becomes someone for Liz to lean on and eventually her protector as it seems Blake could kill her at any time. We see in one of several past vignettes explained to the camera(us;a device director uses to optimum effect..this will either be a charm or annoyance to the viewer)by Liz what violence can happen when an "employee" of his gets out of hand..a hooker gets her stomach slit open and nearly bleeds to death. We also see that even having a friend to chat with seems forbidden as Liz has a forming relationship with a bi-sexual named Katie(Liz Morehead)for whose life is threatened by Blake. Blake is such a mean, cold-blooded bastard he threatens to hook Liz's son when he comes of age.The film is set up as a means for a hooker to speak candidly about what it's like being a "whore." We see Liz working those who stop off to check her out and even see one or two possible clients getting a chance at a "good time." One client gets so worked up his heart stops! The film doesn't seem to judge Liz, but the profession and it's disadvantages. Be warned:the film is sexually explicit and profane from the moment we're introduced to Liz until the fade-out. I think either you will find Russell's performance grating and terrible or very watchable. I think Theresa is terrific, capturing a character who really fell off the side of the tracks and is trying to confront what her choice of profession has done to her(loss of her child to adoption, the joyless task of getting men off, etc). I will agree with many that Ken Russell's film is a mixed bag often drifting from comedy into tragedy, but I myself just don't see how a woman like this' story could be told any other way.

A prostitute named Liz (Theresa Russell) relates her life and times to the viewer. She's running away from her vicious pimp (Benjamin Mouton) who wants to kill her. Rasta (Antonio Fargas) pops up from time to time to inexplicably help her.This was made in response to "Pretty Woman" (which actually made prostitution look glamorous). Director Ken Russell had trouble getting funding for this--no actress would take the role and the title alone scared away investors. Finally Theeresa Russell (no relation) agreed to do it but he still had trouble getting funds. The movie was cheaply made and it shows in some of the sets. It also prevents Russell from any overindulgences (which are usually the highlights of his films). It comes off, cinematically, kind of muted.The acting carries this. Theresa is a great actress--she pulls off the role showing the humor and pain in equal doses. Also she has quite a few long monologues which she pulls off without a hitch. Mouton is also good as her slimy pimp and it's always good to see Fargas in anything (although his character makes no sense).The screenplay is great--it doesn't shy away from any of the realities of prostitution and is quite graphic. Nothing is really shown but the descriptions and sounds make it quite clear what's going on. It does fall apart at the end leaving a conclusion that was totally unbelievable. Some posters have complained that Russell is too glamorous to be a prostitute. That's true--but who wants to watch a movie with a real prostitute who aren't exactly attractive and are in terrible shape? Also there are a few cute references to earlier Russell films here--one movie theatre is playing "Lair of the White Worm" and another is playing a porno film starring China Blue (the character Kathleen Turner played in his "Crimes of Passion").I saw this originally in 1991 in a theatre in it's NC-17 version. The one I saw on cable was R rated and dreadfully edited. The cuts are obvious and in one stupid moment a word is bleeped out (????). It still works as an R rated but try to find the uncut version. Good movie but the low budget hurts.