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Eugene Hutz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure, Richard E. Grant, Inder Manocha ... see more see more... , Elliot Levey , Francesca Kingdon , Clare Wilkie , Stephen Graham , Shobu Kapoor , Olegar Fedoro , Ade , Gogol Bordello

After more than two decades as one of the world's most recognizable stars, Madonna steps behind the camera for the first time with this comedy drama about a handful of bohemians struggling to make a n... read more read more...ame for themselves in London, which she both wrote and directed. A.K. (Eugene Hutz) is a Ukrainian émigré and struggling musician who fronts a band blending gypsy music with punk rock. Still coming to terms with a childhood pock-marked by abuse, A.K. believes that one has to confront the seamy side of life to find enlightenment, and with this in mind he supports himself by torturing masochists for money while dressed in military gear. Living in the same decaying apartment block as A.K. is Holly (Holly Weston), a gifted dancer who dreams of becoming a ballet star, though now she's forced to degrade herself as a stripper at a "gentleman's nightclub." A.K. is enamored of Holly, but can't work up the nerve to make a move. Elsewhere in the building, Juliette (Vicky McClure) wants to help children in the Third World, but is biding her time working at a pharmacy, where she swipes medicine for charity when she isn't pocketing recreational material for herself, and Professor Flynn (Richard E. Grant) is a blind poet who is surrounded by a personal library of books he can no longer read. Filth and Wisdom also features several performances by Gogol Bordello, the band Eugene Hutz leads in real life; the film received its world premiere at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

43% liked it

1,843 ratings

Critics

25% liked it

60 critics

R, 1 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: Madonna

Release Date: October 17, 2008

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DVD Release Date: September 29, 2009

Stats: 176 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (176)

  • dunmyer
    September 12, 2011
    dunmyer
    Is Madonna's "Filth and Wisdom" as bad as you've heard? Well, I have to say yes. When the film came out, it was savaged by critics and pulled from circulation in just a few days. I suspected the critics were being overly negative, as they are wont to do when a woman artist takes ... read morerisks.

    But in this case the extreme pans were deserved. "Filth and Wisdom" is almost as bad as Joaquin Phoenix's spectacularly stupid and self-indulgent "I'm Still Here" (2010). The only redeeming value is that the bits with Eugene Hutz, lead singer of the band Gogol Bordello, do occasionally become interesting. I suspect that Hutz could turn into something of a darling of underground cinema.

    He would just require a director and writer who's got more going on upstairs than Madonna. I yield to no one in my appreciation for Madonna, but it can't be denied: she's no thinker. And she's not much of a natural behind the camera either. Most of the scenes in "Filth and Wisdom" looked to me like they were directed by an eight-year-old, and not a particularly smart or interesting one.
  • trisarahtops22
    November 7, 2009
    trisarahtops22
    I don't see what the point of this was. I love Madonna, but obviously more so in front of the camera than behind.
  • alienmindtrick
    January 4, 2010
    alienmindtrick
    Eugene Hutz makes the rest of us look boring, regardless of who we are and what we do. If you've seen my very favorite movie, 'Everything Is Illuminated', then you remember him as Alex, and you'll also know why it's my favorite film. 'Filth and Wisdom' is 3 parts twisted, 2 par... read morets delightful, 1 part manic, and wholly hilarious.
  • mermaidissima
    August 13, 2009
    mermaidissima
    Madonna, having come to terms with the fact that she cannot act ? Guy Ritchie?s A la dérive in which she starred was a cinematic disaster - has decided to get behind the camera. As director, producer and co-writer of Filth and Wisdom, she has set out on a filmmaking career and ho... read morepes to follow in the footsteps of Fellini and Visconti. Blonde ambition? or blind ambition?

    AK (Eugene Hutz, the Ukranian-born frontman of the gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello) lives in London and dreams of living off his music, but in the meantime, he provides S&M services to seemingly ordinary businessmen. His two roommates also look up to the stars: Juliette (Vicky McClure), a pole-dancer, dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, while Holly (Holly Weston), a pharmacy assistant, wants to play Bono and save African children. The two female leads resemble her, as does AK in many ways. It?s basically a film about me, myself and I. Madonna does not appear in the film, but she is omnipresent, whether behind the camera or in the characters.

    Although Filth and Wisdom is not entirely unpromising, it is a rather shapeless effort with a weak screenplay that is neither filthy nor wise. Hey, Madonna, here?s a wise suggestion: stick to your day job.
  • SDphotoggirl
    March 12, 2009
    SDphotoggirl
    I enjoyed this film...mainly for Eugene Hutz who could spend two hours just talking to the camera and hold my attention because he has the gift for storytelling. Great soundtrack and decent first directing effort by Madonna.
  • Wileoese
    March 2, 2009
    Wileoese
    Best Line: " The problem with having a cash box in your body is you always feel empty even when its full."
  • benjaminguilbert2
    September 28, 2008
    benjaminguilbert2
    I wouldn't say it was disappointing since I wasn't expecting much. There are a few things to save in this movie: the lovestory between the pharmacist and her boss is good and could have make a good film on its own.
    The rest is totally uninteresting, overall it is fake, just one c... read moreommonplace after the other. Of course the camera and the editing are totally uninteresting. The stories are tedious. Couldn't care less.

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Critic Reviews

Ben Mankiewicz
November 10, 2008
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies

This is a terrible, terrible worthless movie that you shouldn't give any time to. Full Review

Ben Lyons
November 10, 2008
Ben Lyons, At the Movies

I'm confident the material girl has more good material for movies ahead of her. Full Review

Peter Howell
October 31, 2008
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

Does anyone remember when Madonna was considered shocking? Full Review

Liam Lacey
October 31, 2008
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

At 84 minutes, the movie feels both overpadded and underdeveloped. Full Review

Ruthe Stein
October 24, 2008
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle

Nothing in this cynical bit of claptrap feels remotely real. Full Review

Tom Long
October 24, 2008
Tom Long, Detroit News

This is a movie that's just sort of there, and nobody much would have paid any attention to it without the Madonna connection. And chances are nobody much will even with that connection. Full Review

Mario Tarradell
October 24, 2008
Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News

For an artist who has spent so much of her career reinventing herself to lead pop culture, not to mention fatten her pocketbook, Madonna seems at her most sincere behind this camera. She coaxes genuin... Full Review

Ty Burr
October 24, 2008
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Madonna has made a career out of toying with image and ego, but this is a vanity project in the smallest sense possible. Full Review

Michael Phillips
October 24, 2008
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Madonna shoots it all like a home movie made by someone who has been on the other side of the camera so often, doing music videos, reality no longer feels remotely real. Full Review

Steven Rea
October 23, 2008
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Impossibly arty and, at times, narratively incoherent, Filth and Wisdom still has its goofy charms. Full Review

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    • A.K.: In my country there is a saying: if you want to reach the sky, fuck a duck and try to fly.
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