Filth and Wisdom

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Filth and Wisdom
Directed by	Madonna
Produced by	Nicola Doring
Written by	Madonna Dan Cadan
Starring	Eugene Hütz Holly Weston Vicky McClure Richard E. Grant
Cinematography	Tim Maurice Jones
Editing by	Russell Icke
Distributed by	Semtex Films
Release date(s)	February 13, 2008 (Berlin International Film Festival)
Running time	81 minutes
Language	English/Russian
IMDb profile

Filth and Wisdom is the first feature film directed by Madonna, starring Eugene Hütz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure and Richard E. Grant. It was filmed on location in London, England from May 14 to May 29, 2007 with additional scenes shot in July 2007.

The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 13, 2008 which was attended by Madonna and cast members Hütz, Weston and McClure.

Madonna is currently considering releasing the film via internet.^{[citation needed]}

1 Plot
2 Reception
3 Cast
4 Production credits
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Described as a comedy/drama/musical/romance, the story revolves around a Ukrainian immigrant named A.K. (Hütz) who finances his dreams of rock glory by moonlighting as a cross-dressing dominatrix and his two female flatmates: Holly (Weston), a ballet dancer who works as a stripper and pole-dancer at a local club and Juliette (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, Eugene Hütz, portrays the main character — a character with a philosophical attitude towards life. Madonna allowed additional dialogue written by Eugene himself to be included in the film.

[edit] Reception

The film met to mixed reviews though The Times Online claimed "Madonna has done herself proud" ^[1] 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" ^[2]. 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." ^[3]. Jonathan Romney of Screen International called the film "good-humoured, averagely average vanity project" and "a cheap and cheerful comedy," adding that "Madonna simply cannot direct actors."^[4]