The Floating Brothel

Simply put, I was really impressed. I happened to catch it on a PBS channel a few nights ago and I couldn't look away. Riveting, informative and, at times, really funny, this was not your typical documentary. If you have any love for history, specifically the history of the first convict settlements in Australia, see this film.

The Lady Juliana left England on July 29th, 1789 with 226 female convicts aboard, headed for Port Jackson, Australia. The convicts had been given "transportation" after Mad George had pardoned them from death sentences. Many had committed crimes no more serious than petty theft, including a young girl who was to hang for stealing a "frock" from another little girl. The majority, however, were common prostitutes and were being shipped to the new settlement in an effort to appease the sexual needs of the large population of male convicts already present.

The documentary includes interviews with living relatives of a number of women present on the "Floating Brothel" and manages to make the somewhat taboo material seem almost heart-warming.

I've seen documentaries of far lesser quality touted as brilliant by the various specialty channels but it took something created for PBS on probably ten dollars and a cup of black coffee to really delight me.