Irina Palm
Encyclopedia
Irina Palm is a tragicomedy
film starring Marianne Faithfull
and Miki Manojlović
. It is a co-production of five countries (Belgium
, Luxembourg
, Great Britain
, Germany
and France
). The film premiered, to great acclaim, at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival
. The film has earned over US $10 million worldwide.
Maggie (Marianne Faithfull
) desperately needs money for the cost of traveling to Australia for a special medical treatment of her beloved ill grandson Olly. After several unsuccessful attempts to get a job, she finds herself in the streets of Soho
. Her eye is caught by poster in the window of a shop called Sexy World: "Hostess wanted." She enters, and Miki (Miki Manojlović
), the owner of the shop, explains to her frankly that "hostess" is a euphemism
for "whore." The job he has for her is one for which age and being visually attractive are not important: a male customer inserts his penis in a hole in a wall (glory hole
), and she, at the other side, gives a handjob
(however, the film does not show any penis). Her colleague, Luisa, shows her how to do it, and after the first hesitation, she quickly develops good skills. However, she keeps her work secret from friends and family, which leads to uncomfortable situations. After a while, she tells some friends. They are quite interested and ask various details.
Under the pseudonym Irina Palm, she becomes increasingly more successful and well-paid, 600 to 800 pounds a week. However, the health of her grandson deteriorates quickly, therefore she asks and receives an advance payment of 6000 pounds for 10 weeks of work. She gives the money to her son Tom (Kevin Bishop
) without telling how she got it. He follows her to learn about the source of the money, and is furious when he discovers what she does. He wants her to never go there again and says he will himself return the money and not go to Australia. However, his wife, Sarah, is thankful to Maggie for her sacrifice to save the boy. Tom and Maggie reconcile and Tom, Sarah, and Olly go to Australia.
Luisa is fired due to Maggie's success. She is very angry at Maggie. A competitor of Miki's offers Maggie a better job, as supervisor of prostitutes in a room with multiple glory holes. She would get 15% of their earnings. She hesitates but eventually declines the offer; becoming a "madam" is a step too far for her. Maggie and Miki eventually fall in love with each other.
When Maggie is walking on Shaftesbury Avenue, the poster of the acclaimed play "The Night of the Iguana
", staged at the Lyric Theatre in 2006, is clearly visible.
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
film starring Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
and Miki Manojlović
Miki Manojlovic
Predrag "Miki" Manojlović is a Serbian actor, famous for his starring roles in some of the most important films of former Yugoslav cinema. Since the early 1990s, he successfully branched out into movies made outside the Balkans, meaning that he's currently active in productions all over Europe...
. It is a co-production of five countries (Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
). The film premiered, to great acclaim, at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
. The film has earned over US $10 million worldwide.
Plot
The 50-year-old widowWidow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
Maggie (Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
) desperately needs money for the cost of traveling to Australia for a special medical treatment of her beloved ill grandson Olly. After several unsuccessful attempts to get a job, she finds herself in the streets of Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. Her eye is caught by poster in the window of a shop called Sexy World: "Hostess wanted." She enters, and Miki (Miki Manojlović
Miki Manojlovic
Predrag "Miki" Manojlović is a Serbian actor, famous for his starring roles in some of the most important films of former Yugoslav cinema. Since the early 1990s, he successfully branched out into movies made outside the Balkans, meaning that he's currently active in productions all over Europe...
), the owner of the shop, explains to her frankly that "hostess" is a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for "whore." The job he has for her is one for which age and being visually attractive are not important: a male customer inserts his penis in a hole in a wall (glory hole
Glory hole (sexual)
A glory hole is a hole in a wall, or other partition, often between public lavatory stalls or adult video arcade booths for people to engage in sexual activity or observe the person in the next cubicle while one or both parties masturbate. The partition maintains anonymity...
), and she, at the other side, gives a handjob
Handjob
Handjob is a slang or informal word referring to an act of manual stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner, whether female or male, usually to the point of orgasm and ejaculation. The act is similar to male masturbation, though the latter is performed by a male on himself...
(however, the film does not show any penis). Her colleague, Luisa, shows her how to do it, and after the first hesitation, she quickly develops good skills. However, she keeps her work secret from friends and family, which leads to uncomfortable situations. After a while, she tells some friends. They are quite interested and ask various details.
Under the pseudonym Irina Palm, she becomes increasingly more successful and well-paid, 600 to 800 pounds a week. However, the health of her grandson deteriorates quickly, therefore she asks and receives an advance payment of 6000 pounds for 10 weeks of work. She gives the money to her son Tom (Kevin Bishop
Kevin Bishop
Kevin Bishop is an English actor and comedian, best known for his own programme, The Kevin Bishop Show, which he co-writes with Lee Hupfield, and the role of Jim Hawkins in Muppet Treasure Island.-Life and career:...
) without telling how she got it. He follows her to learn about the source of the money, and is furious when he discovers what she does. He wants her to never go there again and says he will himself return the money and not go to Australia. However, his wife, Sarah, is thankful to Maggie for her sacrifice to save the boy. Tom and Maggie reconcile and Tom, Sarah, and Olly go to Australia.
Luisa is fired due to Maggie's success. She is very angry at Maggie. A competitor of Miki's offers Maggie a better job, as supervisor of prostitutes in a room with multiple glory holes. She would get 15% of their earnings. She hesitates but eventually declines the offer; becoming a "madam" is a step too far for her. Maggie and Miki eventually fall in love with each other.
When Maggie is walking on Shaftesbury Avenue, the poster of the acclaimed play "The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams, based on his 1948 short story. The play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name....
", staged at the Lyric Theatre in 2006, is clearly visible.
Cast
- Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
as Maggie: the film's protagonist who starts working in a sex shop to pay for her grandson's treatment - Miki ManojlovićMiki ManojlovicPredrag "Miki" Manojlović is a Serbian actor, famous for his starring roles in some of the most important films of former Yugoslav cinema. Since the early 1990s, he successfully branched out into movies made outside the Balkans, meaning that he's currently active in productions all over Europe...
as Miklos: owner of the sex shop - Kevin BishopKevin BishopKevin Bishop is an English actor and comedian, best known for his own programme, The Kevin Bishop Show, which he co-writes with Lee Hupfield, and the role of Jim Hawkins in Muppet Treasure Island.-Life and career:...
as Tom: Maggie's son - Siobhan HewlettSiobhan HewlettSiobhan Hewlett is an English actress.Siobhan Hewlett was born in London. Her father was the actor Donald Hewlett. She trained in acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London...
as Sarah: Tom's wife; Maggie's daughter-in-law - Corey Burke as Olly: Tom and Sarah's son; Maggie's grandson
- Dorka Gryllus as Luisa: One of Maggie's colleagues in the sexshop
- Jenny AgutterJenny AgutterJennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid 1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before moving on to adult roles and relocating to Hollywood.She...
as Jane: One of Maggie's friends - Meg Wynn OwenMeg Wynn OwenMeg Wynn Owen is a Welsh actress, who is best known for her role as Hazel Bellamy, née Forrest, in the television series Upstairs, Downstairs....
as Julia: One of Maggie's friends - Susan Hitch as Beth: One of Maggie's friends
- Flip Webster as Edith: the local shopkeeper
Awards
- Nominated for the Golden Bear for Best MovieBerlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival
- Miki ManojlovicMiki ManojlovicPredrag "Miki" Manojlović is a Serbian actor, famous for his starring roles in some of the most important films of former Yugoslav cinema. Since the early 1990s, he successfully branched out into movies made outside the Balkans, meaning that he's currently active in productions all over Europe...
is nominated for Best European Actor of 2007 by European Film AcademyEuropean Film AcademyThe European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988.- European Film Academy :...
for his role in Irina Palm
- Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
received a Best Actress nomination for her role in the European Film Awards, but Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
won in that category for The QueenThe Queen (film)The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
.