La gloria de las prostitutas

This is a must see look at lives of prostitutes in different countries around the world. The saddest monologue is from a young Pakistan prostitute who asks how in god's world can there be no place for her. She sees her future clearly and realizes that she has no hope of the simple dreams of a marriage and family.

The overview is blunt and non judgmental. Mainly it is left to the prostitutes to discuss their own experiences.

I wasn't sure what to expect when my wife picked out this movie to watch but man was this movie ever thought provoking and interesting. What makes the film unique is that there is no narration or cuts to "experts" and hardly any interviews. The camera is more or less a fly on the wall. The only negative this is that the depressing music is cranked a little too high in the mix and is really obtrusive at times.

The movie covers prostitution in Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico. The documentary in specific looks at a midrange operation in Thailand and a sad and depressing filthy brothel in Bangladesh with young girls, and a low rent operation in Mexico. The movie is very effective.

Some complain that he isn't painting a fair picture of prostitution leaving out the nice clubs in Amsterdam and Nevada. In fact in the Mexican town you can see a big building in many scenes with the word Lipstick on it. This is a nice strip club with good looking girls who you can take upstairs for about five times what the girls who make it into the documentary charge, but instead he shows a sorry strip club with very disturbing looking girls and the low rent section of the Tolerance Zone with crack ladies of the night.

If he just showed the glitzy brothels, this movie wouldn't have nearly the same impact as it does. The Thai joint is the only glitzy joint here with hairdressers and makeup people dolling them up before the night. The Bangladesh and Mexican places don't even have running water and the girls are lucky if they even have a mirror.

Bottom line: this movie is really great. Even my wife liked it and she usually hates documentaries and anything with subtitles... I am glad that she picked it out. Only the music detracts from this moving documentary.

This documentary was nowhere near as interesting as it could have been. Why? Well because we never really got a real glimpse into the lives and existences of the prostitutes portrayed in the documentary.

The documentary is divided into three segments; "The Fishtank" in Bangkok/Thailand, "The City of Joy" in Faridpur/Bangladesh, and finally "The Zone" in Reynosa/Mexico.

"The Fishtank" proved to be the most 'glamorous' of the places shown and of the three segments. Now, the word is being used in a less than positive way, mind you. Here the women sit on display behind a wall of glass for the patrons in the bar to gawk and pick from, calling out their numbers when they settle on a woman. This segment was also the least interesting, because it basically told no story of the women working there. It was all just about showing how the business worked at that given location.

"The City of Joy" was the most downtrodden and depressing of the segments. However, this was also where the director actually started to step up and show the story of some of the women working there. The conditions shown here were just atrocious, and there were even little children living in the environment. The milieu here was really harsh and gray.

"The Zone" turned out to be the must 'in-your-face' segment, in the terms that we we got to see the conditions the women were working under and also showed that drugs was, of course, a part of life in "The Zone". This segment also allowed the viewers to get to become acquainted with some of the women there. Be warned though, that this segment does hold some sexual graphic scenes, which might not just be suitable for anyone.

I had expected to actually get a better insight in the world of prostitution and the world these people live in. But at almost 2 hours, this documentary proved to be very little educational. And as the end credits started to roll on the screen, I must admit that I sat there thinking "what was the purpose of this?". Director Michael Glawogger veered right away from anything that really could pass as educational and proper documentary.

I just love the irony of how the synopsis claims: "The documentary revolves around the lives and individual hopes, needs and experiences of the women." This is such a stretch and can hardly pass as being proper information about the contents.

If you enjoy documentaries about the shadier sides of life, then chances are that your time is much better spent elsewhere.

And, as the saying goes.... "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

*Be Warned!* - Whores' Glory is an extremely stark and vivid "human-nature" documentary that (due to its sad, depressing, and startlingly candid subject matter) is certainly not going to appeal to everyone.

Filmed exclusively in Thailand, Bangladesh, and Mexico - If you've ever been curious to know what a whore's life might be like, then here's a professionally presented production that'll certainly open your eyes to all of the ins & outs (pardon the pun) of such a down'n'dirty business as that of the prostitution trade.

Competently directed by German film-maker, Michael Glawogger - My one big beef about Whores' Glory has to do with Glawogger's choice not to document the ways and means of whores both in a European setting, as well as a glimpse at all of the slutty action in America, too.

I personally think that that would have given the viewer a much more rounded perspective on the "world's-oldest-profession" as it exists today.

*Special note* - While visiting Liberia, film-maker, Michael Glawogger died in 2014 (at the age of 54) from malaria.

Might be my favorite documentary of all time - it really makes you feel the sorrow behind these poor women.