Monday, September 21, 2009

The Gf E

Sex is the only word which would come to your mind if someone tells you the film title; The Girlfriend Experience. At first, the movie seemed to have no purpose but entertainment; however, since watching for the second time, one question has been remained on my mind, "what is the price of true love?"


Steven Soderbergh, is not a name that you can easily avoid. Oscar-winner, 46-year-old American director and producer, finally finished the project started almost two years ago, The Girlfriend Experience. Although, only his name is enough to guarantee that a movie is worth watching, two other names, David Levien and Brian Koppelman who have been co-writers since 1998 (Rounders) and are became famous for films such as Runaway Jury (2003) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007), provoked me to catch this movie.

Chelsea, the leading role played by Sasha Grey, is a young woman who earns a living as a high-end escort, selling a “girlfriend experience” to her clients. Even though, it might seem artificial, her job is to make her regulars believe that they have a boyfriend experience. It is not only about sex. As the matter of fact sometimes there is no sex at all.


Among all these men, Chelsea, whose real name is Christine, in her private life has an actual relationship with her partner Chris, who is -at least by himself- considered as a boyfriend! Although he is not meant anything more than another client to Christine. The dramatic sequence of events gives Christine, who is being paid to make love, the opportunity to realize the value of an actual love; Although the director is not concerned with coherent conclusion.


Mr. Soderbergh has made an incredibly plausible film, using non-actors and non-actresses such as Sasha Grey (a professional porn star), Mark Jacobson (a New York magazine writer), Glenn Kenny (a film critic) and Chris Santos, who had vanished since Amongst Friends (1993) . All the casts actually play their real-life characters. In addition, the documentary theme of movie helps it be more credible and authentic.

The good news for this style lovers is that Mr. Soderbergh has already signed for six movies with 2929 Entertainment and it is just the first one.

4 comments:

  1. why don't you elaborate on the theme? I was just looking for the message of the film. that was good but i think yr criticism was not complete.deliver more information. so that would be great.

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  2. Hi Mahdi,

    I like such films. I really need to see it.

    Just decided to post my version of a part of your text:

    The only thing that comes to your mind when you hear the title of the film Girlfriend Experience is sex. For the first time it looked nothing more than a movie for fun. However, when I watched this film a second time I started to ask myself – “what is the price of true love?”

    You probably have already heard the name Steven Soderbergh. Oscar-winner, 46-year-old American director and producer, has just finished the project he has been working for almost two years, “The Girlfriend Experience”. Only his name can guarantee that movie is worth watching. Two other names, David Levien and Brian Koppelman, who have been Steven Soderbergh’s co-writers since 1998 (Rounders) and have become famous for such films as Runaway Jury (2003) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007), provoked me to buy this movie.

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  3. yes lily, maybe you are right. but actually I am not a critic I am just a professional filmworm!!! :D( I watch film a lot) next time I'll try to express my personal idea about style and theme a bit more, although if you read it carefully you will see that I've made my point!
    Thank you Dimitri for posting your version, I really appreciate that; by the way, "catch" here means to watch a movie or go to a movie.

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  4. Thank you! I really didn't know this idiom - "to catch a movie"

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