Fanny Hill (2007)

Why so much hype?

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Seemingly wealthy Fanny Hill (Rebecca Night) is writing her life story and explaining it to the audience. After the death of her parents, the poor simple country girl follows acquaintance Esther Davis to London Town. Unbeknownst to Fanny, Esther sells her to Mrs. Brown (Alison Steadman) who runs a brothel. Phoebe introduces her to sex and she is led into the world of prostitution. She and young nobleman client Charles Standing fall in love and they run away. They live happily renting a love nest from landlady Mrs. Jones. She loses her virginity to him. She's introduced to Charles' father but she recognizes him. Charles is taken and sent off to the far east by his father. Fanny has a miscarriage. Mrs. Jones threatens her with debtors' prison and forces her to take Mr. H (Hugo Speer) as her client.This BBC mini-series tries to take the 18th century erotic literature seriously as a costume drama. It's sorta like taking 50 Shades after 200 years and treating it like Shakespeare. As such, I would rather skip the construction of Fanny telling her own story. It takes away from the drama and injects a lighter tone. There is no danger since her final state is revealed right away. Fanny Hill is more known as light erotica of its time. The acting is perfectly fine. While there is nudity, this tries to be more real and it's not such an erotica. I doubt the material works best this way. I am fine with attempting to make Fanny darker fare but this is TV and it's not doing that anyways.

It is quite silly but the book -for those who have read it- is also written for the sole purpose of entertaining and certainly it is nothing but an excuse to write about sex, innocent girls turning into prostitutes and brothels... and of course a prince charming to save such a foolish girl from her wretched life. The brothel life is presented as being something of an orgiastic paradise and love emerges i would say rather unrealistically in these circumstances. It's a movie to watch just for fun, it has lots of erotic scenes some rather perverted I would say! I liked the costumes and the atmosphere. I didn't like the way the love story develops. It's too far-fetched.

I've seen a 1983 British version of "Fanny Hill," which was enjoyable in a slap and tickle sort of way. This recent opus is probably a more "serious" treatment, with much less explicit sex than the 1980s film. The young woman playing Fanny here was very attractive, and this adaptation does, I believe, stick to the novel's premise in that Fanny does not make any real apologies for her past. It was circumstances that got her into prostitution, but she basically chose to stay there until it was possible for her to leave it. The film does comment on the double-standard of that era (and ours still) in that Mr. H. finds what Fanny does to be dishonest while willingly entering brothels himself. Yet some of the males, especially that terminally-ill young man who wants to pass his last days with Fanny and her co-workers, are sympathetic. Anyway, the costumes were good, period atmosphere authentic, and leading actress lovely (including brief nudity)and entertaining.

This adaptation of John Clelland's 18th century novel was broadcast on BBC4 recently. Telling the story of an innocent northern country girl who travels to London to seek her fortune it certainly gallops along at an entertaining pace. Along the way, Fanny falls into the clutches of brothel keeper Mrs. Brown, finds her true love, finishes up in the gutter and finally....well, you'll have to watch it yourself to find out! The cast ranges from beautiful to grotesques, all play their parts with gusto and the tongue in cheek script provides enough material for all of them to shine. Everyone looks as if they are enjoying themselves. Made with the BBC's usual high production values and eye for historical accuracy, it's naughty, it's bawdy and an enjoyable, lighthearted piece of entertainment. I'm sure that this will eventually find its way onto BBC 2, it certainly deserves a wider audience - so keep an eye out for it and enjoy!