IMDb user comments for
Painted Angels (1998) More at IMDb Pro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 2:

[1] [2]

Index

15 comments in total

---

6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A slow but devastating story of life in the Early West, 18 September 1999
Author: mike rice (873mike@centurytel.net) from Sparta, Wisconsin 54656

I just watched this film. It was unrelenting, a story of the rough circumstances prostitutes endured in the West a little more than a century ago. Its a woman's story, almost totally without a male point of view. The men are represented as beings who mostly just mumble and play cards. Their voices are heard often muttering on the soundtrack. We can't make out what they're actually saying. Representing the guys as stick figures helps emphasize in what reduced and lonely circumstances the prostitutes inhabit their dance hall and saloon world. There are no women who are not prostitutes in this early western town. Just as the men have little regard for the women, the women think little of the men. I think this may be a fairly truthful accounting of the West before it was civilized. The film has got me thinking about how desperate male-female relationships may have been in America not all that long ago.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----

---

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Good representation of 1800's USA life, 8 March 2000
Author: Bryan Dongray (btd@iname.com) from Minnesota, USA

While the movie would not attract mainstream audiences, it did portray life how it must have been somewhere in the USA in the late 1800's.

The competition between the two places to get the judge to approve of their establishment was an interesting topic. Outdoing each other in their "shows" for the judge. Also the reality of older girls not making money, having to leave and the consequences of what happens then.

Also the scene where the guy is shot in the bar, as we are seeing life from the girls viewpoint, they would not know the reasons behind this, so neither did we.

All in all a good historical perspective movie, showing the stark/slow reality of a snapshot of life then.

---

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Slow but nice, 5 February 1999
Author: nakina from Ontario

The movie is slow, but it's nicely shot. And the slowness is like a metaphor, for their lives. Their lives were slow. What did people do in the prairies in the middle of winter in 1890? Nothing So,the film mimics their lives and forces us to slow down to their pace. Kelly McGillis is a sweetheart, she always has been and should have more leading roles than she does. She is my dream lady.

---

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Thank God, it's not Hollywood mainstream!!, 3 February 1999

Author: Åsa from Sweden

This film shows the real thing, how it probably was working at a small-town bordello during late 19th century. Nothing fancy at all. This is what it really was like. I liked the unusual structure of the film, the status quo-feeling that is so much more real compared to the basic -beginning-build up-the hero's back on top- structure. This is a great film! Unfortunately, it's an acquired taste.

---

4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
At last another movie about what it was really like, 6 March 1999

Author: anonymous from London England

Makes "Unforgiven" look like "Oklahoma"- horribly real. Fricker is like Thatcher - the only heroes in the end are the survivors - rings true don't you think? Feels like history instead of John Wayne. Pity the whole story isn't there.

---

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Shame on the distributors...., 7 October 2001
Author: (mcteer@iname.com) from So. California

The film is made in the manner of a dark brooding Scandinavian melodrama and is more of a slice of the darker side of prostitution. I saw it on video by Sterling and they should be shot for the box promotion which indicated more of a sensual sexual randy tale: "Expert in the pleasures of the flesh, these women...put the wild in the west." Obviously the person writing this did not bother to watch the film. On the video cover three saloon dressed typed women were added (none of whom were in the movie) further adding to the false advertising of the film. Yes it is slow and even boring and hardly uplifting, but it is a tale of women trapped in a degrading 'lifestyle.' The nudity in this film is about as titilating as the nudity in Jennifer Connelly's "Requiem for a Dream".

---

2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
The Good Old Days..., 19 November 1999
Author: Memlets from Lubbock, TX

The preceding user comments are all painfully accurate.

This movie is slow and boring. However, it does depict, in a gritty, realistic way, the allegedly good old days that some people think were superior in every way to our modern era.

Most folks back then lived the kind of dreary existence that this movie portrays. In this case, the dreariness is prostitution in the boondocks.

On the plus side, the movie was beautifully filmed. The lighting in the brothel at night was appropriately dim, which certainly renewed my appreciation for electricity.

However, the sound is awful. The actors mumble, and a few of them mumble with a thick accent, so I'm sure I missed dialog that was probably important to the story.

Some scenes had me stumped. For instance, the theatrical piece with the horse. What the heck was THAT all about??

---

0 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Not for the MTV generation, not for human consumption., 2 February 1999

Author: plascup from Goteborg

This film plods to say the least! I saw one couple get up and walk out. We have no TV at home so found the novelty of moving pictures just enough to hold our interest. The only redeeming feature was the acting, it was convincing despite chronic editing and lack of direction. You felt the story wanted to go somewhere but the makers were too frightened, maybe due to the budget. What story there was, was difficult to grasp with the few threads we were given, but then there are awful cliches as well. Lines like, "why did you do it?" after one actor tries to kill themselves, I wasn't sure if they were doing this for real to get out of the film. Another was to do with some blood. You couldnt help but cringe at the lack of imagination. All the time though you felt a character may explode into life, a dialogue may start that interests you. But no, that could have verged on being entertaining.

In summary I felt the makers got bored with this and it showed.

---

0 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Could have and should have been so much better, 28 October 1998
Author: RMG

Almost no ambient sound - the prairies without WIND! or wildlife

Overdone make-up.

Stilted and slow developing.

Horrible directing even for a rookie director/writer.

---

0 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Very Slow and Boring.., 10 August 1998
Author: ForceYYZ-2 from Salem,Oregon

I think this movie was EXTREMELY slow and boring, It might be because there was no music in the backround.

---

---

Page 1 of 2:

[1] [2]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	External reviews
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user comments
Your vote history