Irina Palm
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Movie Reviews of Irina Palm
Movie Review: Taking Matters In Hand--An Unusual Story Of Sacrifice And The Sex Trade
Summary: 4 Stars
"Irina Palm" is a fascinating, if somewhat stilted, exploration of mother love and sacrifice. We've certainly seen many similar cinematic journeys where women turn to the sex trade out of financial desperation. However, I think it's fair to say that we've never seen a protagonist quite like Irina Palm. What might have been a tawdry example of excess in someone else's hands is kept refreshingly honest in Sam Garbarski's understated direction. With the camera lingering on the contours of star Marianne Faithfull's lived-in face, it is clear that "Irina Palm" hopes for an intimate character study as opposed to a lurid expose of its colorful setting. And it is these choices, in the long run, which cause "Irina Palm" to stand out with a surprising amount of dignity.
Faithfull stars as a grandmother devoted to her family. As her grandson is in the hospital with a rather vaguely defined condition, they get the devastating news that the illness is worsening. An experimental treatment is available but it will cost a lot of money to finance. Desperate and willing to make any sacrifice for the boy, Faithfull ends up accepting the job as hostess in a neighborhood sex club. As we all know, and as the proprietor explains to the rather innocent Faithfull, hostess is just a euphemism for a rather more hands-on experience. Initially wary, money wins out. But a greater transformation is within grasp. Having always defined herself through others, the job soon becomes a liberation of sorts--especially as she rises to the heights of her chosen profession under the stage name of Irina Palm.
I appreciated the unusual positioning that "Irina Palm" takes. Faithfull, through the course of her sacrifice, is snapped back into the land of the living--realizing her worth as an individual. Former wild child Faithfull (yes, it is the singer Faithfull who was intimately involved with The Rolling Stones) is an unlikely, but effective choice. But while I enjoyed her matter-of-fact approach, she is perhaps a bit too stoic and emotionless. Never varying expression more than a degree or two, I thought the film might have benefited from a bit more active involvement on her part. There is also a bit of romance that culminates with a passionate kiss. Supposed to be a defining moment, it comes across so awkwardly and devoid of real feeling. In truth, I'm not sure I totally believed Faithfull getting the job, her relationship with her boss, or that she would end up being a star--but, despite my reservations, it is Faithfull's steadiness that kept the film grounded. So, as you can see, I'm a bit conflicted in my reaction to Faithfull--but I don't see that as an entirely negative thing. A unique character study that I think could be a nice surprise for adult audiences. KGHarris, 1/11.
Movie Review: Give Her A Hand
Summary: 4 Stars
Marianne Faithful, the singer, songwriter and actress from the late 1960's has once again come to the fore as the star of this film. She plays a woman who has lost her life in her middle-age. She is rootless, finacially spent and her life revolves around her grandson, Olly, who is ill.
Marianne in her despair to raise money, finds a job to send Olly to Australia for experimental therapy. Not the kind of job any lady would want. As A.O. Scott says "Instead she sits alone in a room with a hole in the wall and provides a form of satisfaction suggested by her professional pseudonym, which is also the movie's title. And she's so skilled that men are soon lining up and insisting on her special services. " Marianne, known as Maggie works at a sex club in Oxford Circus, SoHo in London. Maggie is dismayed with this job, but the money is good and much to her surpise she has technique that drives the men to her. The manager of the club becomes fond of her, and Maggie realises this and asks her boss for $6,000 pounds advance to give her grandson a chance for life. She must work for 10 weeks and the deal is set. Her family may have other ideas, but it is Maggie who sets the tone.
Marianne Faithful still has an aura of rock 'n' roll glamour that is perfected for this film. She explores a range of emotion from Maggie's timid personna, to one of toughness and humor as her true self is revealed. One of the most humorous scenes is when she tells her sophisticated friends about her new job as "wanker of the penis". "Irina Palm" is trite at times but Marianne Faithful makes this character a real and fascinating person.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 02-03-09
Faithfull: An Autobiography
Marianne Faithfull Sings Kurt Weill (Montreal Jazz Festival)
Movie Review: unexpected
Summary: 4 Stars
Was rather unexpected, but presented a social problem that would be extremely difficult. The story brings to light the need for tolerance, understanding, and most of all forgiveness.Movie Review: A Story Told by Hand
Summary: 3 Stars
3.5 stars. There have been many British films dealing with the gritty underbelly of the sex trade; despite a plot that would seem to mark this as one of those, this movie is much closer in in spirit to "Shirley Valentine" in its central theme of a woman of a certain age declaring emancipation from her boring and limited provincial existence and finding a late-in-life love in the most unlikely place. Widowed Maggie, desperate to raise cash for medical treatment for her critically ill grandson winds up applying for a 'hostess' position in a SoHo sex club giving hand jobs. Not because she wants this kind of work, but because with no education or job skills, it's all she can get. The owner of the club agrees to give her a trial, and to his surprise, not to mention Maggie's own, she turns out to be a natural at this work, despite her prim demeanor. In short order, Maggie is leading a duel existence: queen of the SoHo sex district by day (and night) as well as unassuming provincial grandmother, taking the train to London every afternoon from her village while trying to avoid detection by her nosy neighbors and her son and daughter-in-law. Maggie's boss renames her 'Irina Palm' and makes her (or rather, her right hand) the centerpiece of his club. At first intending to exploit this sheltered housewife, he winds up discovering tender feelings for his new employee. Those familiar with Marianne Faithfull's storied past as 60's rock icon, girlfriend of Mick Jagger and infamous heroin addict will marvel that she can portray a timid woman of limited life experience just discovering her own identity, but she brings depth and pathos to Maggie's situation, as well as a dry humor. The scenes where Maggie deals with the occupational hazard of '(not tennis) elbow' or tells off her snotty village friends after they find out what she's been up to are delightful. I had expected a much darker and more exploitative tale, given the subject matter, but "Irina Palm" turned out to be an oddly lighthearted and life-affirming venture into cinema.Movie Review: Money Rules
Summary: 3 Stars
A simply calm nice philosophical drama (tragic comedy?) tells of a typical-un-skilled-aged consumer's request for money, which was realised with a sort of a sex service, for what one being confronted by son of her unable to provide an adequate treatment for a gravely ill grandson of her.
The happy end of this story is finding a boyfriend for a grandma as peace of mind followed pragmatism and reality of an ancient notion "Money does not smell".