Director: Peter Watkins
Year: 1967
Country: UK
Language: English
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired
Length: 99 mins
Format: PAL | R2
Colour: Colour
Aspect Ratio: 1.85: 1
Certificate: 15

Synopsis

Steven Shorter, the biggest pop star of his day, is loved by millions. His approval or endorsement guides the choices and actions of the masses. In reality he is a puppet whose popularity is carefully managed by government-backed handlers keen to keep the country's youth under control. Only an act of complete rebellion can set him free.

Starring Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones as Shorter, and iconic sixties supermodel Jean Shrimpton as the girl who tries to help him defy the system, Privilege is the third feature from provocative British director Peter Watkins, a filmmaker whose unique Vérité-style and oppositional themes have met with controversy throughout his career.

Special Features

- Original Privilege trailer.
- The Diary Of An Unknown Soldier (Peter Watkins, 1959, 17 mins): a young soldier in the trenches of the First World War, preparing for combat, shares his innermost feelings in this compelling short.
- The Forgotten Faces (Peter Watkins, 1961, 18 mins): a gripping newsreel-style account of the people's uprising in Hungary, 1956, given forceful authenticity by Watkins's unique approach.
- Extensive illustrated booklet with essays by Peter Watkins, film historian Robert Murphy, and Watkins specialist John Cook.