Very Rare Movie On YouTube: Privilege

Oh my God. Someone has put up the entire film Privilege in 14 parts. I haven’t seen this in well over a decade, maybe two. I used to own the LP soundtrack.

The user’s index of videos is here.

Privilege Part One is here.

‘Privilege’, a cruelly compelling, often brilliant film … the real star … is director Peter Watkins, only 31, who must get credit for this acidly anti-establishment film … the quasi-documentary touches he mastered on BBC money are sharply and effectively in evidence. And in his first full-length film, he shows he can use color with startling success. No doubt about it: Watkins is on his way.’ (Playboy)

‘This is a bitter, uncompromising movie, and although it isn’t quite successful it is fascinating and important. Watkins made a mistake in bringing the newsreel techniques of “The War Game” into a narrative film, where a director should be able to make his point with his story, the performances and the photography. Still the movie isn’t a failure so much as an interesting episode in the career of a director who I think will eventually be ranked with Fellini and Bergman.’ (Roger Ebert, Nov 1st, 1967)

The national cinema circuit in the UK, J. Arthur Rank, refused to show this “immoral and un-Christian picture which mocked the Church, defied authority and encouraged youth in lewd practices”. Universal Pictures withdrew the film after brief screenings in a few countries, and the film has been rarely shown since – very occasionally on TV. Universal Pictures in Hollywood even refuse to let the director rent or buy a copy of this film, even on VHS.

For more information, visit the director’s website: http://www.mnsi.net/~pwatkins/privile…

For a nice essay on the film, see: http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/49/pr…

(I apologize for the godawful picture quality, it’s the only version of the film I got, since Universal still refuses to give this film a PROPER DVD-release… So please see this as a chance to watch this rare film!)

Did you note that final paragraph? You can’t buy this film even if you wanted to! And you wonder why I hate the Suits with all my heart?!

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Get it before the DMCA erases it!