Filth and Wisdom

{{Infobox film

| name = Filth and Wisdom

| image = Filth and Wisdom Poster.jpeg

| producer = Nicola Doring

| director = Madonna

| writer = Madonna
Dan Cadan

| starring = Eugene Hütz
Holly Weston
Vicky McClure
Richard E. Grant
Olegar Fedoro

| music =

| cinematography = Tim Maurice Jones

| editing = Russell Icke

| studio = Semtex Films, HSI London

| distributor = IFC Films

| released = {{Film date|df=y|2008|02|13|Berlin International Film Festival|2008|10|17|limited release}}

| runtime = 81 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English
Russian

| budget =

| gross = $354,628{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=filthandwisdom.htm|title=Filth and Wisdom (2008)|publisher=Box Office Mojo|date=23 November 2008|access-date=16 February 2012}}

}}

Filth and Wisdom is a 2008 British comedy-drama film directed by Madonna (in her directorial debut), starring Eugene Hütz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure and Richard E. Grant. It was filmed on location in London, England, from 14 to 29 May 2007. Locations included two actual strip clubs in Hammersmith and Swiss Cottage; both owned by the Secrets Clubs chain.{{Cite web |date=2012-01-23 |title=Film/TV Venue Hire at Secrets |url=http://www.secrets-clubs.co.uk/explore-secrets/filmtv-venue-hire-at-secrets/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Secrets |archive-date=23 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123035631/http://www.secrets-clubs.co.uk/explore-secrets/filmtv-venue-hire-at-secrets/ |url-status=dead }}{{Primary source inline|date=September 2023}} Additional scenes were shot in July 2007.

The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2008 which was attended by Madonna and cast members Hütz, Weston and McClure. It did not receive many positive reviews. On 17 October 2008 the film went into limited release, as well as being simultaneously released "On Demand" on most cable providers.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} It is the first motion picture production for Madonna's company, Semtex Films.

Plot

Described as a comedy/drama/musical/romance, the story revolves around a Ukrainian immigrant named A.K. (Eugene Hütz) who finances his dreams of rock glory by moonlighting as a cross-dressing dominatrix and his two female flatmates: Holly (Holly Weston), a ballet dancer who works as a stripper and pole-dancer at a local club and Juliette (Vicky McClure), a pharmacy assistant who dreams of going to Africa to help starving children.

The Gypsy punk band that appears in the film is portrayed by real-life Gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello, who also contributed three songs to the film's soundtrack. The band's lead singer, Hütz, portrays the main character; a character with a philosophical attitude towards life. Madonna included additional dialogue written by Hütz.

Reception

File:Filth and Wisdom premiere in Paris.jpg

Filth and Wisdom debuted in Berlin International Film Festival with mixed reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/material-girl-in-berlin-madonna-booed-first-film-meets-mixed-reviews-a-535273.html|title=Madonna Booed, First Film Meets Mixed Reviews|work=Der Spiegel|access-date=20 March 2023|date=14 February 2008}} On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 25% approval rating, based on 63 reviews with an average rating of 3.94/10, {{as of|2020|06}}. The website's critics consensus reads: "Filth and Wisdom, while certainly ambitious, is mostly unconvincing and incoherent."{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/filth_and_wisdom/|title=Filth and Wisdom Movie Reviews|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=25 June 2020}} {{Metacritic film prose|26|21|access-date=15 March 2025}}{{Cite web |title=Filth and Wisdom Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/filth-and-wisdom/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=www.metacritic.com |language=en}} The Times Online claimed, "Madonna has done herself proud"{{Cite news|title='Review: Madonna's Filth and Wisdom'|work=The Times|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article3364108.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510113457/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article3364108.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 May 2008|location=London|first=James|last=Christopher|date=14 February 2008|access-date=2 May 2010}} and The Telegraph described the film as "not an entirely unpromising first effort" but went on to say "Madonna would do well to hang on to her day job."{{Cite news|title='Filth and Wisdom: Don't give up the day job, Madonna'|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/02/14/bfberlin114.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217104126/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/02/14/bfberlin114.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 February 2008|location=London|first=Sheila|last=Johnston|date=14 February 2008|access-date=2 May 2010}} Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "Well, it had to happen. Madonna has been a terrible actor in many, many films and now – fiercely aspirational as ever – she has graduated to being a terrible director."{{Cite news|title='Review: Madonna's Filth and Wisdom'|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/festivals/news/0,,2256320,00.html|work=The Guardian|location=London|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|date=14 February 2008|access-date=2 May 2010}} Jonathan Romney of Screen International called the film "a good-humoured, averagely average vanity project" and "a cheap and cheerful comedy," adding that "Madonna simply cannot direct actors."{{Cite news|last=Romney|first=Jonathan|title=Filth And Wisdom|magazine=Screen International|issue=1634|page=20|date=29 February 2008}} The New Yorker{{'}}s Anthony Lane panned the film, saying that "in technical terms, more professional productions than this are filmed and cut on iMovie, by ten-year-olds, a thousand times a day" and that "if the actors were paid according to their talents, they cannot have cost more than forty bucks."{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/10/20/081020crci_cinema_lane|title=Inside Jobs|first=Anthony|last=Lane|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=19 October 2008|date=20 October 2008}}

Cast

Ade – DJ
Olegar Fedoro – A.K.'s Father
Eugene Hütz – A.K.
Holly Weston – Holly
Vicky McClure – Juliette
Richard E. Grant – Professor Flynn
Stephen Graham – Harry Beechman
Inder Manocha – Sardeep
Shobu Kapoor – Sardeep's wife
Elliot Levey – Businessman
Clare Wilkie – Chloe
Hannah Walters – Businessman's wife

References

External links

{{IMDb title|1042499|Filth and Wisdom}}
{{mojo title|filthandwisdom|Filth and Wisdom}}
{{rotten-tomatoes|filth_and_wisdom|Filth and Wisdom}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20081018163911/http://www.ifc.com/film/film-news/2008/10/eugene-hutz-on-filth-and-wisdo.php Eugene Hütz Interview with Aaron Hillis at IFC News, October 2008]

Category:2008 films

Category:British romantic comedy-drama films

Category:British musical comedy-drama films

Category:Films directed by Madonna

Category:2000s musical comedy-drama films

Category:2008 romantic comedy-drama films

Category:Films shot in London

Category:Films about Romani people

Category:British romantic musical films

Category:British independent films

Category:2000s romantic musical films

Category:2008 directorial debut films