Privilege (film)

Movie
German title	privilege
Original title	Privilege
Country of production	Great Britain
original language	English
Publishing year	1967
length	103 minutes
Age rating	FSK 18
Rod
Director	Peter Watkins
script	Norman Bogner , Peter Watkins
music	Mike Leander
camera	Peter Suschitzky
cut	John Trumper
occupation
Paul Jones : Steven Shorter Jean Shrimpton : Vanessa Ritchie Mark London : Alvin Kirsch William Job : Andrew Butler Max Bacon : Julie Jordan Jeremy Child : Martin Crossley James Cossins : Professor Tatham Frederick Danner : Marcus Hooper Victor Henry : Freddie K Arthur Pentelow : Leo Stanley Steve Kirby : Squit Malcolm Rogers : Reverend Jeremy Tate Doreen Mantle : Miss Crawford Michael Graham : Timothy Arbutt Michael Barrington : Bishop of Essex

Privilege (Original title: Privilege ) is a British feature film by the director Peter Watkins from 1967 . Like Watkins' other work, Privilege uses a quasi-documentary narrative style.

action

The film is set in the near future of the 1970s and is about rock star Steven Shorter. Church and state try to win Steven for their purposes and to manipulate him so far that he becomes a messianic leader figure for the youth in order to dissuade them from their rebellious course and to conform.

background

In the role of Steven, Paul Jones , who was very popular at the time and the longtime singer of the band Manfred Mann , can be seen. Steven's girlfriend, the painter Vanessa Ritchie, is played by the then model Jean Shrimpton .

Privilege opened in British cinemas on February 28, 1967. The German version was shown in West German cinemas from October 13, 1967, and in East German cinemas from March 28, 1969 . In June 1974 the film ran for the first time on GDR television.

Reviews

"A formally and thematically interesting media satire, which, however, loses its persuasiveness through clichéd exaggeration and premature denunciation."

- Lexicon of international film

“English film that perfectly and intelligently portrays the short but hectic career of a pop singer and the associated manifestations of collective hysteria. Part of the critical stance in the 'in the near future' action extends to the Christian churches of England. "

- Protestant film observer

DVD release

After many years of unclear legal situation, Privileg was finally released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in 2008 in the USA and 2010 in Great Britain .

Web links

• Privilege in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Privilege in the Lexicon of International Films .
2. ↑ Evangelischer Filmbeobachter, Review No. 452/1967, p. 572.
3. ^ Privilege on Peter Watkins' website, accessed June 12, 2012.