Privilege (DVD)

Synopsis

Steven Shorter (played by Manfred Mann lead singer, PAUL JONES) is a rock music phenomenon. His popularity, carefully engineered by his corporate handlers, has reached dizzying proportions. But, when artist Vanessa Ritchie (played by the original supermodel, JEAN SHRIMPTON) is hired to paint his portrait, she discovers that he is unhappy and unstable. When matters take a devious twist, Steve rebels in a startling manner.

In the wake of the controversy surrounding his Oscar®-winning anti-nuclear drama The War Game, director PETER WATKINS fashioned a darkly comic vision of a totalitarian near-future. So forceful was PRIVILEGE in its criticism of the media, corporate culture and the state, that it was greeted with a potent mix of praise and abuse on its first release. Its prescience and the questions it asks about manipulation and control make Watkins film even more relevant today.