Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

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MichaelB
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Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#1 Post by MichaelB » Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:36 pm

Tony Garnett's controversial drama about the lives of a group of sex workers - now confirmed as a 2010 release, courtesy of a brief mention on Kim Newman's Guide to the Flipside of British Cinema.

More details when I get them.

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ellipsis7
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#2 Post by ellipsis7 » Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:37 pm

Time Out...
PROSTITUTE
Producer Tony Garnett's first stab at direction was obviously made for the best of motives: a concern about the harassment of prostitutes by police and courts. But his style (TV docu-drama) and line of argument (prostitution is a job like any other) leave a lot to be desired. Just as important as the day-to-day reality of sex for sale is the imaginative role that it plays in the Western world; and with his tale of a Birmingham prostitute and her unhappy move to London, Garnett seems determined to exclude that whole area of debate. Fine as a campaign film; but a major disappointment as anything else.
Author: Time Out Film

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MichaelB
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#3 Post by MichaelB » Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:08 pm

Having seen the film recently, I think that that review says more about its anonymous writer's own predilections than anything especially helpful.

In particular, the complaint about the omission of anything about "the imaginative role that [prostitution] plays in the Western world" reminded me of Sight & Sound's notoriously inane complaint that Terence Davies' The Long Day Closes didn't mention anything about the Hungarian revolution despite being set in 1956 - as though a young film-mad boy in Liverpool would have had the slightest knowledge of or interest in the subject.

Garnett's film is emphatically about the day-to-day lives of ordinary prostitutes - it has no pretensions to be any kind of historical or cultural overview, and such a treatment would probably be needlessly distracting from the film's primary aims. It's a campaigning film in the same sense that Cathy Come Home (which Garnett produced) is a campaigning film - admittedly, without the advantages of Ken Loach behind the camera or a high-profile BBC airing (it got an extremely limited cinema release, and was graphic enough to be BBFC-snipped even for an X certificate), but it's clear that that's where Garnett's coming from. Naturally, thirty years on, it's gained a fair bit of historical fascination - not least the elements about prostitutes' lives that have barely changed at all.

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Wu.Qinghua
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#4 Post by Wu.Qinghua » Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:13 pm

Well, I have to admit that I have not only missed all the films of Jane Arden which have been released by the BFI on DVD last year. No, I guess I also have completely misjugded the Flipside branch. I remember that I was some kind of baffled when I read about "London in the Raw" and "Primitive London" having been released on dvd as well as on blu. Back then, I thought that the BFI was trying to cash in on tourists visiting London, cult movie freaks looking out for some form of "London Extreme" and laymen local historians. Well, I am still struggling with those movies, as I have been lead astray by some reviews and all the "mondo" talk which lead me to the wrong assumption that Miller's movies would deal with shifting gender relations and sex work in the first place. But, although Miller's movies are not great films, but rather dubious descriptions of London night life and 60s mass culture, both are very fascinating. And the discs are simply great.

To cut a long story short: You'd already won me over announcing the combined release of "Permissive", "That Kind of Girl" and "Privilege". But now you leave me flabbergasted announcing Garnett's "Prostitute". I remember myself desparately looking for that movie for quite a while when I tried to research different modes of representing "prostitution"/"sex work" in the movies some years ago. I guess I have to look that up again, but that movie is something of a predecessor to Liz Borden's "Working Girls" destined to deconstruct the whole concept of "prostitution" and empowering sex workers, isn't it? Amazing news, anyway ...

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Cash Flagg
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#5 Post by Cash Flagg » Tue Feb 16, 2010 6:40 pm


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Wu.Qinghua
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#6 Post by Wu.Qinghua » Tue Feb 16, 2010 7:00 pm

Whoopee! Here it comes.

Btw, Russell Campbell dedicated a whole chapter to Garnett's "Prostitute" (and Lizzy Borden's "Working Girls") in his 2006 book "Marked Women. Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema". I hestitate to recommend the whole book, but that chapter ain't bad.

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antnield
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#7 Post by antnield » Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:15 pm

Cover art:

Image

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closelyobserved
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#8 Post by closelyobserved » Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:08 am

Think this might be a good candidate for the Dvd worst cover thread.

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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#9 Post by perkizitore » Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:13 am

Postponed until September
Last edited by perkizitore on Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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antnield
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#10 Post by antnield » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:35 pm

...and postponed again, it would appear. Release date no longer listed on Amazon, Play, HMV, et al.

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Wu.Qinghua
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#11 Post by Wu.Qinghua » Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:44 am

Oh ... I hope the delay is due to the cover's design or some other minor problem ... Any news on this?

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RossyG
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#12 Post by RossyG » Fri Aug 27, 2010 9:20 am

Just had my long-standing pre-order cancelled by HMV.

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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#13 Post by perkizitore » Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:33 pm

Image
Last edited by perkizitore on Fri Feb 04, 2011 6:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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antnield
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#14 Post by antnield » Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:37 am

Specs, courtesy of Amazon.co.uk:
Prostitute

A Film by Tony Garnett

Tony Garnett, one of British television's most critically acclaimed figures, has been responsible for producing some of the most radical and controversial UK drama, and is associated with ground-breaking directors such as Ken Loach.

His directorial debut, Prostitute, is the tale of two women - Sandra (Eleanor Forsythe), an ambitious but naïve Birmingham working girl who moves to London with the hopes of securing wealthier patrons, and Louise (Kate Crutchley) her social worker friend who is fighting to change the antiquated and hypocritical prostitution laws. As both strive to achieve their goals, a cold dose of reality dashes their hopes, and the built-in biases against women in society are unmasked. This frank and controversial exposé is finally presented here fully uncut and uncensored.

Extra Features:

- Newly transferred to High-Definition from original film elements
- Comes with fully illustrated book containing contextualising essays
- Fully uncut version

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antnield
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#15 Post by antnield » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:31 am

Amazon now listing an additional extra in the form of Jan Worth's 1979 documentary Taking a Part (46 mins). Here's the info from the BFI's SIFT database:
NFA Catalogue
Two nineteen-year old women describe their experiences in London, working as hostesses in a topless bar and as prostitutes. They recount their working-class upbringing in Coventry, their training as secretaries, and the circumstances of their arrival in London: encounters with various men, accommodation in exchange for sex, finally work in the bar and prostitution. They describe the situation in the bar: the practice of making the women "members" rather than employees, the conversations with the customers, the financial arrangements - the champaigne commission and hostess fees which constitute their only payment. We see the women's living conditions, and they describe the problems of finding decent housing; one of the women has a baby, and discusses the difficulties of supporting her, paying rent, childcare, travel and food costs with a low-paid job; as well as the unsuccessful attempt by a social worker to improve her housing situation. The women also speak about their perception of love, their childhood fantasies of wealth and romance, their adult attitudes to men, and finally the possible alternatives to prostitution.

Library Synopsis
A documentary about the experiences of two girls, who both came to London at an early age, from a working class background, one of whom has a child. Both are involved in prostitution, and one decides to give it up, while the other probably never will.

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GaryC
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#16 Post by GaryC » Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:28 pm

Passed last week by the BBFC - 18 naturally. Presumably the cuts to the cinema release had to do with the "strong real sex" which the BBFC are now able to pass uncut.

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gyorgys
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#17 Post by gyorgys » Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:42 pm

I thought it was initially scheduled as a dual format release.

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MichaelB
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#18 Post by MichaelB » Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:03 am

Full specs announced:
Prostitute
A film by Tony Garnett
Eleanor Forsythe, Kate Crutchley


Mastered from original film materials and presented fully uncut for the very first time, Tony Garnett’s groundbreaking and controversial exposé of the lives of a group of Birmingham sex workers is finally released on DVD.

One of British television's most critically acclaimed figures, Tony Garnett has been responsible for producing some of the UK’s most radical dramas. In the 1960s and 1970s he collaborated with director Ken Loach, beginning with the groundbreaking Up the Junction (1965) and Cathy Come Home (1966). After spending most of the 1980s in America, he returned to work on series and serial drama with a range of credits, including Between the Lines (1992-1994), This Life (1996-1997) and The Cops (1998-2001).

His cinematic directorial debut, Prostitute (1980), which he also wrote and produced, is the story of two women – Sandra (Eleanor Forsythe), an ambitious but naïve Birmingham working girl who moves to London with the hope of securing wealthier patrons, and Louise (Kate Crutchley), her social worker friend, who is fighting to change the antiquated and hypocritical prostitution laws. As both strive to achieve their goals, a cold dose of reality dashes their hopes and the built-in biases against women in society are unmasked.
Tony Garnett researched and developed the film over several years, working closely with PROS, the Programme for Reform of the Law on Soliciting, for the decriminalisation of prostitution in Britain.

Recalling the film in 2011, Tony Garnett writes in his essay for the BFI DVD booklet:
‘I wanted to make a film from the prostitute’s point of view. It would not be sexy, turning the audience into punters. No prostitute would turn out to have a heart of gold or fall in love and marry a kind, millionaire punter. It would be about money, buying and selling, and the stress that particular trade imposes. It would show how class distinctions altered the transactions. I hoped for insights and debate. Often when dealing with a world the public does not know but thinks it knows, it is useful to dispel the prejudice by just carefully revealing its day to day character in a matter-of-fact way. I was not interested in making a genre film, whether thriller, romance or morality tale.’

Special features

- Taking a Part (1979, 45 mins): Documentary by Jan Worth about the experiences of two young women involved in prostitution;
- Illustrated booklet featuring essays by Tony Garnett, Russell Campbell (author of Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema) and filmmaker Jan Worth

Release date: 25 April 2011
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIV893 / Cert 18 UK / 1980 / colour / English with optional subtitles for the hard-of-hearing / 98 mins / DVD-9 / aspect ratio 1.78:1

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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#19 Post by MichaelB » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:06 am


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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#20 Post by MichaelB » Wed May 04, 2011 2:05 am


marnum
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#21 Post by marnum » Wed May 04, 2011 2:37 am

So no point waiting for this to happen?
Image
http://www.dvdsource.co.uk/product?part ... ner=108257" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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MichaelB
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#22 Post by MichaelB » Wed May 04, 2011 6:37 am

None whatsoever - like the mythical Blu-ray of Of Time and the City, that release never existed except as a somewhat premature announcement.

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GaryC
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#23 Post by GaryC » Wed May 04, 2011 2:31 pm

I don't know if this is commercially confidential or not, but what would decide if a film is released as part of the Flipside series (as Prostitute was going to be originally) and in Blu-ray, or not?

I ask as there have been some BFI DVDs where a HD transfer has been made, but only a DVD released. Anchoress is another example.

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MichaelB
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Re: Prostitute (Tony Garnett, 1980)

#24 Post by MichaelB » Wed May 04, 2011 2:46 pm

The BFI also has archival reasons for making an HD transfer (especially of its own films, like Anchoress), and I think current policy is to master in HD whenever possible, even if a Blu-ray release is currently considered a commercial step too far.

As for the decision-making process, if it's Flipside it's automatically Dual Format, but otherwise I suspect it's based on the film's likely commercial appeal, whether its target audience is likely to be Blu-ray compatible (aside from the recent John Krish compilation, the documentary releases have generally been DVD-only, and I suspect there's a reason for this), or whether the film is likely to benefit significantly from an upgrade (which is why the Ozu supporting features alternate between HD/SD and SD-only).

Plus of course whether an HD remastering is even feasible - it wasn't in the case of Black Jack because it had to be "repaired" with extracts from a one-inch SD broadcast master, which would have looked horrible in HD. And of course, famously, the master of Of Time and the City turned out to be in SD video, thus scuppering initial Blu-ray plans.

In the case of Prostitute, while I obviously wasn't privy to the decision-making process (though I was present at the initial BFI viewing session last year), I'm not especially surprised that it was passed over for Blu-ray when the rest of the BFI's April-July line-up included Buñuel, Švankmajer, Skolimowski, Ozu and Herbert Ponting (the official photographer of the Scott expedition)...

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