Ambitious, flawed, and influential mockumentary helmed by provocative director Peter Watkins who made the superior War Game(65) and Punishemnt Park(70). Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones stars as Steven Shorter(SS),a pop star who is the creation of church and state. It seems to have been an influence on Wild in the Streets and The Apple as well as Tommy and A Clockwork Orange. Jones' gives an effectively introverted, naturalistic performance that was subject to unfairly harsh criticism when the film was released. The film is most compelling when Jones is on screen. The other characters are not interesting, and the narration is overly emphatic. Worthwhile, if flawed. Privilege has an interesting theme and premise that along with several arresting scenes make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, the recent DVD release does not present the film in widescreen.
