By many, prostitution is considered a dishonorable profession, but what cannot be denied is that it is also the oldest in the world , so it is not surprising that this subject has been addressed countless times in the cinema.
There are movies where it is dealt with in a crude way, but on other occasions, the subject matter has been softened to such a degree that it is presented almost like a fairy tale.
For actresses, the role of a prostitute often leads her down two paths: she casts her as a sex object or she wins over audiences with an exceptional performance. Some of them had such a good interpretation that they were recognized with the Academy Award.
1. Julia Roberts – Pretty Woman (1990)
Edward Lewis is a wealthy businessman who regularly travels to Los Angeles, where he stays in a suite at a luxurious hotel, the Regent Beverly Wilshire. One night he takes a prostitute, Vivian, to the hotel with the idea that she stay only one night. Despite the fact that Vivian is somewhat vulgar, Edward is attracted by the innocence of the young woman and offers her to stay with hers for a whole week for 3,000 dollars from her.
2. Julie Walters – Educating Rita (1983)
Julie Walters is a British actress who played the role of a prostitute in the 1983 film “Educating Rita.” The film is set in Birmingham, England, where Walters’ character, Rita, is a working-class woman who dreams of bettering herself through education. As a struggling Birmingham escort, Rita is initially hesitant to pursue her dreams, but eventually finds the courage to break free from her circumstances and pursue her dreams.
3. Jessica Alba – Sin City (2005)
Nancy Callahan writes to him every week in prison, under a pseudonym, until one day, 8 years later, she stops doing so. And she finally reaches for an envelope with a finger, a sign that she’s in danger. Hartigan “confesses” to his crime, the sentence is final, and for the years already served, the sentence is considered served and he is released.
4. Sharon Stone – Casino (1995)
Sam Ace Rothstein is a famous gambler who is turned into a Jewish director of several casinos by the mafia. One day he meets Ginger, an attractive green carpet regular, conditioned by drugs and alcohol, and whom he ends up marrying.
5. Kim Basinger – LA Confidential (1997)
1950s Los Angeles is the seedy backdrop for this intricate noir-ish tale of police corruption and Hollywood sleaze. Three very different cops are all for the truth, each in his own unique style: Ed Exley, the golden boy of the police force, willing to do almost anything to get ahead except sell out; Bud White, willing to break the rules to seek justice but barely able to keep his savage violence in check, and Jack Vincennes, always looking for fame and a quick buck until his conscience leads him to join Exley and Blanco for the One way path to find the truth behind the dark world of Los Angeles crime.
7. Penelope Cruz – Don’t Move (2004)
One rainy day, a stop sign is not respected, a fifteen-year-old girl who brakes, slips and falls from the motorcycle. An ambulance race to the hospital. The same hospital where her father works. While a colleague operates on his daughter, Timoteo is waiting. Faced with the terror of this extreme event, he remembers dropping his mask of firmness and cynicism, of a model father and husband, and reveals a strange and violent image of himself. With the hope of being able to oppose the word to the silence of the coma, and defeat death with life, the protagonist reveals, in an imaginary dialogue with his daughter, a painful secret: the apparently miserable story of a powerful and visceral love. conjugal extra. Then appears that hot summer of so many years ago, a miserable urban periphery, a young woman, docile and helpless,
8. Sophia Loren – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1964)
The first tells how a cigarette seller manages to avoid a fine for years using a legal subterfuge: Italian law does not allow a pregnant or postpartum woman to be jailed for a minor crime. So every year Adelina brings a new “ragazzo” to the world, until her husband is exhausted and can’t keep up with him, generating a funny conflict between the couple.
9. Charlize Theron – Monster (2003)
Aileen Wuornos meets Selby Wall in a friendly bar. Selby is a young lesbian in need of affection, love and friendship. Aileen is a desperate woman, traumatized by her childhood and on the verge of suicide, who earns her living as a roadside prostitute. Both begin a sentimental relationship that enriches them mutually, but Aileen is about to start a tragic criminal career. Based on a true story.
10. Nicole Kidman – Moulin Rouge (2001)
It is about a young bohemian writer, Christian, who falls in love with a beautiful courtesan, from the Moulin Rouge cabaret: Satine. One night, thanks to chance and a series of misunderstandings, fate crosses them. He falls in love with her poetry, she enchants him with the light that radiates from her eyes. But everything ends abruptly, when she notices the confusion: he was not the millionaire duke that she was predisposed to convince to finance a play. The young writer offers her true love, while the rich nobleman offers to fulfill her dreams of becoming a legitimate actress.
