Privilege
1967 · TMDB 6.7
Directed by Peter Watkins
Britain's biggest pop singer, Steven Shorter, receives unwavering adulation and possesses total control over his rabid fans, which includes nearly the entire population. Yet Shorter is not an autonomous performer -- he is little more than a puppet for the government, promoting whatever agenda they see fit. When a beautiful artist, Vanessa Ritchie, is commissioned to paint his portrait, she pushes Shorter to question his obedience to his manipulative handlers.
Why it matters
Peter Watkins imagines a near-future Britain where a manufactured pop idol is deployed by the state to pacify the young. Shot in a pseudo-documentary register, it treats the media apparatus as the real subject and the singer as its instrument.
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Released
- 1967-02-28
- Studio
- John Heyman/Peter Watkins Production
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- TMDB score
- 6.7
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