Painted Angels

The film is made in the manner of a dark brooding Scandinavian melodrama and is more of a slice of the darker side of prostitution. I saw it on video by Sterling and they should be shot for the box promotion which indicated more of a sensual sexual randy tale: "Expert in the pleasures of the flesh, these women...put the wild in the west." Obviously the person writing this did not bother to watch the film. On the video cover three saloon dressed typed women were added (none of whom were in the movie) further adding to the false advertising of the film. Yes it is slow and even boring and hardly uplifting, but it is a tale of women trapped in a degrading 'lifestyle.' The nudity in this film is about as titilating as the nudity in Jennifer Connelly's "Requiem for a Dream".

While the movie would not attract mainstream audiences, it did portray life how it must have been somewhere in the USA in the late 1800's.

The competition between the two places to get the judge to approve of their establishment was an interesting topic. Outdoing each other in their "shows" for the judge. Also the reality of older girls not making money, having to leave and the consequences of what happens then.

Also the scene where the guy is shot in the bar, as we are seeing life from the girls viewpoint, they would not know the reasons behind this, so neither did we.

All in all a good historical perspective movie, showing the stark/slow reality of a snapshot of life then.

Makes "Unforgiven" look like "Oklahoma"- horribly real. Fricker is like Thatcher - the only heroes in the end are the survivors - rings true don't you think? Feels like history instead of John Wayne. Pity the whole story isn't there.

The preceding user comments are all painfully accurate.

This movie is slow and boring. However, it does depict, in a gritty, realistic way, the allegedly good old days that some people think were superior in every way to our modern era.

Most folks back then lived the kind of dreary existence that this movie portrays. In this case, the dreariness is prostitution in the boondocks.

On the plus side, the movie was beautifully filmed. The lighting in the brothel at night was appropriately dim, which certainly renewed my appreciation for electricity.

However, the sound is awful. The actors mumble, and a few of them mumble with a thick accent, so I'm sure I missed dialog that was probably important to the story.

Some scenes had me stumped. For instance, the theatrical piece with the horse. What the heck was THAT all about??

The movie is slow, but it's nicely shot. And the slowness is like a metaphor, for their lives. Their lives were slow. What did people do in the prairies in the middle of winter in 1890? Nothing So,the film mimics their lives and forces us to slow down to their pace. Kelly McGillis is a sweetheart, she always has been and should have more leading roles than she does. She is my dream lady.