Elles (FRENCH DVD REVIEW)
Elles
DVD Review
by Kam Williams
Neglected Wife Explores Her Sexuality in Daring
Midlife Crisis Drama
Anne
(Juliette Binoche) is a stressed-out investigative reporter for Elle Magazine,
stationed in Paris,
who’s a good candidate for a lifestyle makeover, given the overwhelming demands
of her job and her family. Her boss has been pressuring her to meet the
deadline for the article she’s currently working on about college students who
moonlight as high-priced call girls.
Meanwhile,
she has her hands full on the home front because her husband, Patrick (Louis-Do
de Lencquesaing), shows no interest in bearing his half of the burden. Hence,
she has to shoulder the full responsibility of motivating their stoner
(Francois Civil) and couch potato (Pablo Beugnet) sons to do more than lounge
around the flat with a view.
Although
Anne also needs to attend to her bed-ridden father (Jean-Marie Binoche), her
hubby still expects her to play the perfect hostess by whipping up a gourmet
meal the evening he invites his boss over for dinner. And to add insult to
injury, he goes out of his way to warn his wife not to embarrass him by making
any unpleasant conversation at the dinner table.
Being
married to such a cad, is it any surprise that Anne might start to take a
personal interest in Charlotte (Anais Demoustier) and Alicja (Joanna Kulig),
the two young prostitutes being profiled in her piece? That is precisely what
transpires in Elles, a steamy, midlife crisis drama directed by Malgoska
Szumowska.
Initially,
Anne interviews her subjects in a professional manner, posing probing questions
about whether they enjoy indulging the fetishes of their assorted clients, in
the process eliciting very graphic descriptions of their kinky liaisons. But
the miserably-married journalist becomes intrigued, once it’s apparent that
they’ve taken to the world’s oldest profession like fish to water.
Then,
against her better judgment, Anne shares shots of vodka with the seductive Charlotte, only to cross
another line by experimenting with lesbianism. The glaring juxtaposition of the
happy hookers with the pathetic plight of the unappreciated supermom seems to
suggest that the wife taken for granted might actually be in a worse
predicament.
Reminiscent
of the incendiary offerings of the iconoclastic Catherine Breillat like Romance
(1999) and Fat Girl (2001), Elles is a thought-provoking immorality play apt to
stir up just as much controversy by virtue of its seemingly-gratuitous sex
scenes alone. Does the fact that the director’s a feminist and the star is an
Oscar-winning actress provide sufficient artistic cover for carnal clinches
which border on soft porn? Does the explicit eroticism serve to advance the
plot or was it included purely for titillation purposes?
Those
are questions you’ll have to answer for yourself upon screening and
introspection, unless you’re the Puritanical type that considers any lurid
depictions of copulation blasphemous. Let the endless debate begin!
Very Good
(3 stars)
Rated NC-17 for
nudity and explicit sexuality. http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9203008102640994648#editor/target=post;postID=6830896931468614556
In French, Polish and Arabic with subtitles.
Running time: 99 minutes
Distributor: Kino
Lorber
Blu-ray Extras: Edited
and unedited trailers; and a stills gallery.
To see a trailer for
Elles, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY6UAn7fnag
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