Elles (5/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 96 minutes

Not for children

Straight-laced Anne (Juliet Binoche) finds herself corrupted by the two prostitutes, Charlotte (Anaïs Demoustier) and Alicja (Joanna Kulig), about whom she is writing an article in this NC-17 rated film. It examines why some beautiful young women become prostitutes and shatters feminist images about who is exploiting whom. Says writer/director Malgoska Szumowska,

Before the start of the shoot, I wanted to meet some young female prostitutes. In Poland, I knew from reading the papers that many young female students are forced to sleep with the owners of the rooms they live in. The account of one young girl who was both beautiful and elegant made a great impression on me. From the start of the interview, she only talked about sex, what she did and what she liked to do. To be honest, I was shocked. Shocked by the fact that a girl this pretty and intelligent derived pleasure from sleeping with men for money. And it wasn’t only to meet vital needs such as food and accommodation, but also for pleasure and to have a more pleasant life. In fact, it was very different from the fantasy that most people have of prostitution.

The film is as much about Anne, her relationship with her family, and her moral slide as it is about the prostitutes themselves. Unfortunately, Szumowska sprinkles the film with mundane scenes of Anne's everyday life like bringing home groceries and dealing with problems with her refrigerator and blender that slow the pace considerably.

Counter-balancing this is an enchanting performance by Demoustier, which is worth the price of admission by itself. She is a huge star aborning.

As to Kulig, Szumowska says, "She wanted to be in the film so badly that she lied to me when I asked her if she could speak French. When I realized it wasn’t true, I thought she was very sassy. And in the end, in the film, she does speak French!"

Kulig gives a good performance also, but maybe the most memorable scene in the film is one of her naked, receiving oral sex, as she displays breasts that are so remarkable that even my female guest, who isn't nearly as interested in breasts as I am, was impressed.

In addition to the humdrum scenes of Anne's ordinary life, the film is marred by lots of product placements, especially for Apple Computer (the King of Product Placement) and Mercedes Benz.

Although this is not hard core, it does contain female nudity and fairly specific scenes of sexual activity. In French and Polish.

April 26, 2012