Stella Does Tricks
1996 British film
title: "Stella Does Tricks" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["british-drama-films", "1996-films", "1996-drama-films", "films-about-prostitution-in-the-united-kingdom", "films-about-incest", "1990s-feminist-films", "films-set-in-london", "1990s-english-language-films", "1996-british-films", "english-language-drama-films", "films-directed-by-coky-giedroyc"] description: "1996 British film" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Does_Tricks" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1996 British film ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Stella Does Tricks |
| image | Stella_Does_Tricks_VideoCover.png |
| director | Coky Giedroyc |
| producer | Adam Barker |
| writer | A. L. Kennedy |
| starring | {{plainlist |
| music | Nick Bicat |
| cinematography | Barry Ackroyd |
| editing | Budge Tremlett |
| distributor | British Film Institute |
| released | |
| runtime | 97 minutes |
| country | United Kingdom |
| language | English |
| budget | £650,000 |
| gross | £32,966 (UK) |
| :: |
| name = Stella Does Tricks | image = Stella_Does_Tricks_VideoCover.png | caption = | director = Coky Giedroyc | producer = Adam Barker | writer = A. L. Kennedy | starring = {{plainlist|
- Kelly Macdonald
- James Bolam
- Hans Matheson
- Ewan Stewart}} | music = Nick Bicat | cinematography = Barry Ackroyd | editing = Budge Tremlett | distributor = British Film Institute | released = | runtime = 97 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget =£650,000 | gross =£32,966 (UK) Stella Does Tricks is a 1996 British drama film about a young Glaswegian girl, played by Kelly Macdonald, working as a prostitute in London.
The film was the first feature film directed by Coky Giedroyc, inspired by her previous work making documentaries about homeless people in Glasgow, Manchester, and London, and provided Macdonald with her first film role after Trainspotting. The film has been described as "an uncompromisingly feminist text, in which the Baby Doll turns Avenger", and by Lawrence van Gelder of The New York Times as a "bleak, perceptive portrait of the prostitute as a young girl torn between the need for genuine love and a career of sexual exploitation".
Despite the film centering on the lives of female prostitutes, the only nudity in the film is male nudity.
The screenplay was written by the novelist A. L. Kennedy, and draws in part on one of her earlier stories, Friday Payday. Cinematography was by frequent Ken Loach collaborator Barry Ackroyd.
Plot
Stella is one of a number of young prostitutes working for the pimp Mr. Peters in London, having run away from her Glasgow home where she was sexually abused by her father, a stand-up comedian. She tries to get away from Peters and becomes involved with Eddie, a heroin addict, before taking her revenge on Peters and her father.
Cast
- Kelly Macdonald as Stella
- James Bolam as Mr. Peters
- Hans Matheson as Eddie
- Ewan Stewart as Francis
- Andy Serkis as Fitz
References
References
- "Stella Does Tricks (1996)". [[BBFC]].
- "''STELLA DOES TRICKS''".
- (14 December 1998). "British biz at the box office".
- Allon, Yoram; Patterson, Hannah & Hodges, Mike (2001) ''Contemporary British and Irish Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide'', Wallflower Press, {{ISBN. 978-1-903364-21-5, p. 111
- Campbell, Russell (2005) ''Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema'', University of Wisconsin Press, {{ISBN. 978-0-299-21254-4, p. 302-304
- van Gelder, Lawrence (2001) ''Stella Does Tricks'' in ''The New York Times Film Reviews 1999-2000'', Routledge, {{ISBN. 978-0-415-93696-5, p. 230-231
- Leach, Jim (2004) ''British Film'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN. 978-0-521-65419-7, p. 142
- Petrie, Duncan J. (2004) ''Contemporary Scottish Fiction: Film, Television and the Novel'', ''Edinburgh University Press'', {{ISBN. 978-0-7486-1789-0, p. 73
- McFarlane, Brian & Slide, Anthony (2003) ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'', Methuen, {{ISBN. 978-0-413-77301-2, p. 2, 251
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