User Reviews

While the chitchatting girls of Bangkok may initially make you think it's actually not that bad, the back alley brothel in Bangladesh kicks you in the stomach. Remember while watching: 100 Taka = €0,95. And while the men are reduced to (nasty, ignorant, or at least naive) animals that can't help but exert their primal urges ('without the brothel all women would get raped all the time' is a telling quote), it's the madams' treatment of their girls that will truly horrify any viewer. The documentary ends slightly surrealistic, though not unsuitable, in a drug-fueled Mexican red light area.

What probably struck me most were the small rituals, often merely casual habits, that are used by the girls to keep hanging on in their incredibly hard life.

One can argue (as I'm sure has been done) whether 'dramatic' music in such a documentary is fitting. Nevertheless, the film is gripping, beautifully made, and if it wasn't such a nasty side of humanity the images and music would be enchanting. But without a happy end.

The film is interesting and powerful, albeit depressing. No idea how the director got access to give us such a candid look, but this is a dark side of the world you won't see anywhere else. The subject is self explanatory, if you're at all interested about the lives of these women in Thailand, Bangladesh, and Mexico then you should experience this.

My one critique is thematically, the movie is about prostitution in abject poverty, not prostitution as a "job", but does not make any distinction. The prostitutes in Bangladesh and Mexico he shows were in absolutely horrifying conditions - they were forced into it, threatened if they tried to leave, and barely paying for food. Whereas in Amsterdam, Germany, and even many in Bangkok treat it as an occupational choice. They can get other jobs, but choose to do this. Those are two VERY different circumstances that can have very different effects on people physically and emotionally.

That would be my critique to keep in mind while watching. The movie is not so much a commentary on the evils of prostitution or even the lives of prostitutes, as it is delving into the darkest depth of what desperate conditions can bring.

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.

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.

Many of us tend to forget how lucky we really are living like we do, having the opportunities we have. This documentary is a powerful way to remember it. For once, a documentary about prostitution that can be compassionate without being condescending. A must watch.

...but it is important. It has stuck with me, & over the years, I've thought about these women. If a movie sticks with you, then it succeeded. And this movie succeeded.

Any reviewer who didn't "like" this, missed the point. And as for that "top" review, who said the film makers didn't delve into the prostitutes lives enough, what makes you think their profession didn't dominate their daily existence? Sex work would taint bonding with others, except for the small few that share in their mutual destruction (other prostitutes, other addicts, etc). This is an important movie, everyone should watch. (And how can you be have the top review with 36 down votes?)

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

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.

Whore's Glory is a documentary about prostitution. There is no voice over, no narration, no script. It merely records a visual documentation of the lives of prostitutes in three different venues (located in Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico).

Of course the film was edited, but other than that, it provides an unfiltered view of prostitution. It focuses on the prostitutes themselves, enough so that the viewer sees the conditions they live in/under. They sometimes talk to the camera. We learn of their sorrows, their problems, and how they deal with the realities of prostitution.

In Thailand, the girls do not seem as victimized. Oddly, some of them spend much of their money on the "bar boys" who entertain women for money.

In Bangladesh, these women are truly victims of economic hardship. Women bring their daughters into the business. Society is so stratified that people's choices are limited. The caste system still controls much of life there.

Because the camera is just an observer, there is no glorification of the job. In all three locations, waiting is a large part of the job. Religion and superstitious mysticism play a part in the women's lives, just as for others in their societies.

One woman in Bangladesh who comes across as more sensitive, perhaps more intelligent explains the horrible reality she must confront every day, saying "Women are unhappy creatures." Philosophically, she wonders why it is that way and how it can change.

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.

Whores' Glory is told in three segments which begins in Bangkok, Thailand at a strange place which looks like a hotel with a room with long benches where the girls sit with numbered buttons and are chosen by customers looking through a window. It is all extremely depressing and sad. The camera follows the young women as they casually discuss everyday problems with boyfriends and other mundane matters. The johns talk about their wives and the need to escape the boredom of marriage. At least Bangkok is clean, whereas the next location in the City of God in Bangladesh is beyond filthy. The brothel district is a dirty and congested area where the whores are packed together in attached stone buildings which are impossible to describe. The poverty is overwhelming. The final city is in Mexico in a place called the red zone. Some of the hookers are in the street, while most are standing at the door of motel rooms attempting to lure men. There is some nudity here, and we finally see a sexual encounter which as cold as ice. In the end, the almost two hour length of the documentary is painful to watch, as no one at all will ever escape their tragic lives.