Directed by Sam Garbarski
Belgium | Luxembourg | UK | Germany | France 2007

 

To support her family, a middle-aged widow joins the world’s oldest profession—story fodder for a weepy ’50s melodrama, or the genesis of an offbeat dramedy about personal reinvention. Gabarski’s casting proves inspired: Faithfull, the ’60s pop music icon who reemerged from the abyss as a serious artist is still radiant, her classic features, as ever, a camera magnet.

Faithfull’s grit, humor and appreciation of irony also surface in her role as Maggie, a mousy London suburbanite whose son and daughter-in-law can’t afford an overseas medical trip for their gravely ill little boy. Literally taking matters into her own hands, Maggie secures a job as a penile masseuse in a Soho sex parlor owned by wily émigré Miki (Manojlovic). Her success is explosive, and soon the queue of satisfied customers is so long that a rival businessman comes calling, but Maggie has eyes only for her boss.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 13th, 2007

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DVD Review: Strand Releasing - Region 1 - NTSC

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Distribution Strand Releasing - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime 1:39:24 
Video 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.23 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Audio English (Dolby Digital 2.0) 
Subtitles None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Strand Releasing

Aspect Ratio:
Aspect Ratio 1.85:1

Edition Details:

• trailer

DVD Release Date: August 12th, 200
8
Keep Case
Chapters: 12

 

Comments:

Well, I swore off Strand Releasing but this was a film I wanted to see although I should have looked closer at the European releases available as they - of course - all appear to be superior.

Strand have upstaged some of their previous stingy releases as this is dual-layered and the combing artifacts evident are far less noticeable than I have seen before. Looking at the PAL edition times this Strand was taken from an unconverted (incorrect) standard source and this is the real reason behind the 'combing / ghosting / trailing' visible in the last posted large screen capture.  The image is weak but clean and watchable with some noise and slightly less-than-vibrant colors.

NOTE: I believe the film was shown theatrically in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio making this Strand DVD inaccurate in that regard. Yet another black-mark against the NTSC edition.

Audio has a flat 2.0 channel but the film is mostly dialogue driven - the PAL releases have 5.1. No subtitles - the dialogue is in clear English some may not be accustomed to the accents so the addition of optional English subtitles would have been appreciated.

No extras aside from a trailer. Strand just aren't 'getting it' as they say. I'd be more vehement in my recommendation of the French releases HERE if I knew positively that the French subs were removable. As it sits this price is high for the DVD product Strand are flogging but the film is a wonderful ride and very much worth seeing. I'd consider a PAL edition if you can get it reasonably where you live. 

Gary W. Tooze

 



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Minor combing...
 

 


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Distribution Strand Releasing - Region 1 - NTSC




 

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