Paying for It | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sook-Yin Lee |
Written by | Sook-Yin Lee Joanne Sarazen |
Based on | Paying for It by Chester Brown |
Produced by | Matt Code Sonya Di Rienzo Aeschylus Poulos |
Starring | Dan Beirne Emily Lê Andrea Werhun |
Cinematography | Gayle Ye |
Edited by | Anna Catley |
Music by | Sook-Yin Lee Dylan Gamble |
Production companies | Wildling Pictures Hawkeye Pictures |
Distributed by | Loco Films |
Release date |
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Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Paying for It is a Canadian drama film, directed by Sook-Yin Lee and released in 2024. [1] It is an adaptation of Chester Brown's graphic novel Paying for It , about his decision to start frequenting sex workers after the breakup of his real-life relationship with Lee.
The film stars Dan Beirne as Brown and Emily Lê as Sonny, as well as Andrea Werhun, Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato, Stephen Kalyn, Chris Sandiford, Kris Siddiqi, Scott Thompson, Sera-Lys McArthur and Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll in supporting roles.
Production on the film was first announced in 2022. [2] In contrast to the original graphic novel, which used artistic techniques to obscure the faces of the sex workers due to Brown's concern for the women's privacy rights but faced some criticism for seemingly dehumanizing them, Lee's film adaptation, through a "female gaze", more strongly centres the women's own perspectives. [3]
Although Lee herself is a character in the original graphic novel, for the film adaptation she chose to rename her character Sonny to give herself some creative distance from the material. [4]
The film premiered in the Platform Prize program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. [5] In conjunction with the film premiere, Drawn & Quarterly reissued a new "film edition" of the graphic novel, with a foreword by Lee and special bonus material about the film production. [3]
It has been picked up for international distribution by Loco Films. [6]
Alex Hudson of Exclaim! rated the film 8 out of 10, writing that "even though this story is being told by the people it happened to, it's not overly flattering to its subjects. Chester's transactional approach to sex brings out his superficiality, and when he tells his friends about how great it is, he rarely expresses much overt happiness, often seeming as much like he's trying to convince himself as anyone else. And Sonny is judgmental and fickle, steering their lives into one unsustainable situation after another. They're flawed while remaining likeable and relatable." [7]
After the conclusion of the festival, Hudson and colleague Rachel Ho identified the film as one of its overall highlights, writing that "Toronto cartoonist Chester Brown decided to hire sex workers after a bad breakup with ex-girlfriend Sook-Yin Lee — at which point he made the surprising decision to publicly write about it in a graphic novel. Even more surprising is that Lee is the one to adapt that story for the screen. Come for the intensely intimate tell-all, stay for the fun '90s Toronto references." [8]
Courtney Small of That Shelf wrote that "wrapping all the various connections in a simple but effective aesthetic, Lee's film truly feels like a graphic novel come to life. One could easily see the film playing in a double bill alongside Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World or even, to a certain extent, Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy , which also involves a cartoonist who finds himself in a complicated relationship. Make no mistake though, Lee crafts a film that stands firmly on its own richly constructed merits. Whether finding humour in each new encounter Chester has with a sex worker, or observing the sparks that ignite Sonny's passion for her new lovers, each section of the film feels fully realized." [9]
Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian broadcaster, musician, film director, actress and multimedia artist. She is a former MuchMusic VJ and a former radio host on CBC Radio. She has appeared in films, notably in the John Cameron Mitchell movie Shortbus.
Chester William David Brown is a Canadian cartoonist. Brown has gone through several stylistic and thematic periods. He gained notice in alternative comics circles in the 1980s for the surreal, scatological Ed the Happy Clown serial. After bringing Ed to an abrupt end, he delved into confessional autobiographical comics in the early 1990s and was strongly associated with fellow Toronto-based cartoonists Joe Matt and Seth, and the autobiographical comics trend. Two graphic novels came from this period: The Playboy (1992) and I Never Liked You (1994). Surprise mainstream success in the 2000s came with Louis Riel (2003), a historical-biographical graphic novel about rebel Métis leader Louis Riel. Paying for It (2011) drew controversy as a polemic in support of decriminalizing prostitution, a theme he explored further with Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus (2016), a book of adaptations of stories from the Bible that Brown believes promote pro-prostitution attitudes among early Christians.
Untold Scandal is a 2003 South Korean romantic drama film directed by E J-yong, and starring Bae Yong-joon, Jeon Do-yeon, and Lee Mi-sook. Loosely based on the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, this adaptation takes place in late 18th century Korea, during the Joseon dynasty.
Bryan Lee O'Malley is a Canadian cartoonist, best known for the Scott Pilgrim series. He also performs as a musician under the alias Kupek.
I Never Liked You is a graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. The story first ran between 1991 and 1993 under the title Fuck, in issues #26–30 of Brown's comic book Yummy Fur; published in book form by Drawn & Quarterly in 1994. It deals with the teenage Brown's introversion and difficulty talking to others, especially members of the opposite sex—including his mother. The story has minimal dialogue and is sparsely narrated. The artwork is amongst the simplest in Brown's body of work—some pages consist only of a single small panel.
Ed the Happy Clown is a graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. Its title character is a large-headed, childlike children's clown who undergoes one horrifying affliction after another. The story is a dark, humorous mix of genres and features scatological humour, sex, body horror, extreme graphic violence, and blasphemous religious imagery. Central to the plot are a man who cannot stop defecating; the head of a miniature, other-dimensional Ronald Reagan attached to the head of Ed's penis; and a female vampire who seeks revenge on her adulterous lover who had murdered her to escape his sins.
Paying for It, "a comic strip memoir about being a john", is a 2011 graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. A combination of memoir and polemic, the book explores Brown's decision to give up on romantic love and to take up the life of a "john" by frequenting sex workers. The book, published by Drawn & Quarterly, was controversial, and a bestseller.
Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown attracted the attention of critics and peers in the early 1990s alternative comics world when he began publishing autobiographical comics in his comic book Yummy Fur. During this period Brown produced a number of short strips and two graphic novels: The Playboy (1992) and I Never Liked You (1994). The personal and revealing deal with Brown's social awkwardness and introversion, and the artwork and page layouts are minimal and organic. In 2011 Brown returned to autobiography with Paying for It, an account of his experience with prostitutes.
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Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus is a graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown, published in 2016. The book is subtitled Prostitution and Religious Obedience in the Bible, and is made up of adaptations of stories from the Bible that Brown believes promote pro-prostitution attitudes among early Christians.
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Andrea Werhun is a Canadian writer and actress from Toronto, Ontario. She is most noted for her 2018 book Modern Whore, a memoir of her time as a sex worker prior to establishing herself as a creative professional.
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