I appreciated the previous reviews since I learned, by reading them, some facts I didn't catch when watching this movie, as some of the other viewers experienced too, and that being said by native speakers was a consolation for my feeble knowledge of the English language.
Several times during the viewing I was tempted to look for subtitles, since the background noise was at times quite loud, interfering with the dialogues but I noticed that by doing so my listening becomes lazy and I rely more and more on the written word.
About the movie: I was mesmerized and repelled by the early 1700s London low life, because at least in this film we don't get the slightest relief showing here and there some better society places and better attired people. Of course we are witnessing the rise of a very young and poor prostitute at the time, and the atmosphere couldn't be more depressing.
From beginning to end this movie is REALLY depressing..., I'm tempted to say that if Dorothy Parker were alive today, she could have been the writer of the script. But such masterfully produced work gets my admiration as the only reaction to the enormous effort they all must have endured to produce this jewel.
The top drawer talent displayed on all categories, from set and costume design to flawless acting and hyper realistic period make up goes beyond any expectation.
It's fortunate that nobody has, so far, developed smells as a possibility for the spectator to enter even further in that period, because if they did, watching this movie could have been practically impossible.
It became appalling seeing the living conditions poor women had to suffer during those times and most of all, the prostituted ones (although nowadays, 300 years later, many of them go through similar experiences), but one must admit that society has come a long way since those times.
Excellent movie, but you must really take a deep breath and set your mind accepting the low light for almost all the scenes, the slow pacing, the murmurs that were many of the dialogues and the desperate conditions of those poor people, all of them, women, children and men.
William Hogarth, the guiding figure on this movie, was a superb painter that left us a fantastic legacy with his depiction of his London, fortunately so changed (for the better) nowadays.
