django-1 Review of Wages of Sin

Wages of Sin (1966)

Swiss melodrama/documentary on abortion, released in the US as an exploitation film

[6/10 · 7 September 2003]

I can only imagine what some poor oversexed US theatregoer in 1966 who saw this serious Swiss melodrama/documentary about abortion, expecting a sexy exploitation film from the advertising, would think. There are clinical drawings of the female anatomy shown and the only skin seen is the bare legs of a lady having a baby! Perhaps K. Gordon Murray and David Friedman would provide an unannounced "square-up reel" in addition to the film, but as it is, there is no exploitation value to this serious film. On the other hand, watched in 2003 as a historical curio, the film is of much value. It is a serious and powerful tract supporting legal and safe abortion and presents a number of real-life stories of women forced to choose unsafe and illegal back-alley abortions. With a number of politicians in the US wanting to bring back the pre-Roe-vs.-Wade days again, the film is an eloquent voice in favor of reproductive freedom. It was no doubt seriously intended by the Swiss filmmakers and on that level is a fascinating historical document...although it has the entertainment value of some old b&w 16mm film I would have been shown in the early 70s in highschool "family living" class, something that would have seemed dated at the time.