The Girlfriend Experience

[polkablues]

He said several escorts who offered this particular service were interviewed as research for the film.

Ha, yeah... "Interviewed".

[©brad]

This is my favorite film of the year (so far). Either 2009 is shaping up to be the next 1999 or, sadly, I'm the new Peter Travers of the board who loves everything he sees...

(JB I think you'll really dig it).

[JG]

its good, i actually started to write a review of it and then gave up. but i recommend it.

[Stefen]

^What an endorsement.

Soderbergh is one of those filmmakers who I always find interesting. The final product is usually hit or miss. I'm hoping this one is the former.

[modage]

it's the latter. sorry cbrad!

[picolas]

yeah.. it's great visually, but the underlying message is either just really vague or way too simple for an 80 minute movie. i love soderbergh, though, and i don't think he's bullshitting necessarily... a really good analysis/review might make me want to give it another chance.

[Stefen]

I'm going to try and see it tomorrow.

[Stefen]

God, I love Soderbergh.

He may not hit it out of the park, but he'll go down trying.

I find filmmakers like Soderbergh and Van Sant the most refreshing because they stay busy and are always putting out quality work. This film is no exception. The lack of narrative may be a little off-putting, but it's so beautiful to look at. I think this is Soderbergh's prettiest film to date. He acted as his own DP and I think that's how he works best (visually at least)


Spoilers.

I did like the free-flowing narrative. I thought it worked for this type of film. It abandons the basic flow of a regular film but clues us in through narration and O.C dialogue. Everything from the acting and the writing is very loose. It makes it feel very genuine and organic. A lot of the techniques Soderbergh uses is simple point and shoot. He lets his actors act and I'm sure improvise as they see fit. Not very many cuts. I liked that.

If you watch it, view it more as a short film (it's only like 77 minutes long) instead of a whole film and I think you're enjoyment of it will increase ten fold.

Sasha Grey is basically playing herself but she exudes a certain type of sexiness and confidence that I don't think any other actress could have pulled off. She has sex for a living but she never comes off as sleazy or trashy. She's very classy and upperclass and that was very appealing to me. The sex always took a backseat to an actual girlfriend experience. Sometimes sex wasn't even had and men were paying her more for the companionship than any sort of intimate relationship and she pulls it off very well. When she's with these men she really makes it seem like she cares for them even though it's really just a job. As a person, she's very ambitious and seems to realize that this isn't a job that lasts forever and she puts a lot of effort into other things.

I need to put more emphasis on how fucking beautiful this movie is.

[Pozer]

maybe i should start watching movies w/you. i did not care for this. and visuals looked like me fartin off with my Sony handycam back in the day.

you, me, this & Wendy vs. Chico Blood & Seagal's Pistol Whipped 

[Stefen]

Chicano Blood would beat the shit out of Girlfriend Experience, but GE could outsmart Chicano Blood.

[Pozer]

Chicano Blood would also rape Wendy but Lucy would steal its heart.

[Stefen]

HAH!

[MacGuffin]

I'm with Stefen and pic on this. It's visually stunning not only in HD, but the composition of shots. I liked it, but didn't love it. Soderbergh does right by the film in the editing and letting scenes play out. The film got better as it did start going more in Christine's story. We got a good sense of Chelsea right off the bat, especially when she says this great line, "If they wanted you to be yourself, they wouldn't be paying you." But when Christine was stood up, got the bad review and generally having her bad day, it made her human and vulnerable, like how the interviewer wanted to see her past that steel door she had up. I liked the juxaposition between Christine's (the real side) and Chelsea's (the business side) lives. If the film included more of that and less guys on the plane and talk of the economy and the gym, it would have made me like it more. And now I'm curious about the alternate cut included on the DVD to see what was changed around.

[I Love a Magician]

anyone listened to the commentary?

[MacGuffin]

anyone listened to the commentary?

I did. It isn't as insightful as Soderbergh's other tracks (no talk of the cinematography), but Grey is no wall flower to the track either. She contributes a lot about how she went about the character (talking with escorts; her acting process) and her acting choices (being hidden and playing it low key in the break-up scene, for example).