My my Steven…how interesting you are.

The Steven I refer to is none other than Steven Soderbergh, truly one of those ever-reliable filmmakers. I guess at times I take this seemingly effortlessly slick, stylish filmmaker’s skill for granted, but he really is one of those ever-reliable directors (do I go as far as to call him an auteur? Perhaps not.) that continually makes film after solid, substantial film. The Girlfriend Experience is no exception.

My second visit to the aisles of this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Soderbergh’s newest offering. I knew it would be about a high-class Manhattan escort, portrayed by successful porn actress Sasha Grey (who, I noted with interest, is my age). Apart from that however, I wasn’t sure what was in store for me, other than my friend’s claim that it was a “reaction against” the Ocean’s franchise which had brought Soderbergh so much box office success in recent years. Indeed, it is – that much was clear from the opening seconds of the film.

The Girlfriend Experience is all the sometimes out of focus, awkward and improvised dialogue, interestingly framed shots that the Oceans films are not. Objects and people are deliberately out of frame, or out of focus, then suddenly appear again. The camerawork is gorgeous, yet notably hand-held. Awkward pauses abound. This isn’t a film for those who shy away from what is a little “artsy”. Not for haters of Godard (see: similarities in subject matter and pace to Godard’s Vivre Sa Vie). Christine/Chelsea (Grey) is a successful escort, earning thousands per hour, seeing to the needs of wealthy businessmen who haven’t the time for the real girlfriend experience. Set in 2008, Chelsea’s clients complain and whine to no end about the upcoming election, and especially the global financial crisis. They’re earning less nowadays, they’re losing clients and are terrified that their lifestyle might have to change. Chelsea in turn, listens patiently, listlessly. She’s doing very well for herself, wanting to expand her business and earn even more.

You know, I sit here writing this, wondering how exactly to explain the plot of Girlfriend Experience. While certainly “things happen”, the chronology of the film is confusing, constantly darting between moments in time, and the pace meanders around with no real rush at all. This of course (in my opinion) works to Soderbergh’s advantage, but it makes explaining the film to someone somewhat difficult. Chelsea gets interviewed by a journalist. Chelsea sleeps with businessmen. Chelsea is informed of an up-and-coming younger escort who is stealing her clientele. All this, amongst day to day activities of Christine and her boyfriend, Chris (Chris Santos), a personal trainer.

What was most interesting about The Girlfriend Experience was the stance of Soderbergh and writers David Levien and Brian Koppelman towards Chelsea as a character. The camera lingers almost lovingly upon her body and especially her face, whereupon her dimple lights up the frame during those infrequent moments of a visible smile. However, she is also inaccessible, enigmatic, and …bland. This can be attributed perhaps in part to the lesser acting chops of Sasha Grey, but more so I believe this works in favour with Soderbergh’s character (?) study of a young woman whose “real” personality and essence is just as inaccessable to those who care for her and are genuinely interested as her money-obsessed clients. Both a journalist and the sleazy reviewer note that she is bland and uninteresting, and Soderbergh seems to take a certain amount of joy during said sequences. Similarly, there was a resounding wave of laughter as Chelsea remarks to Chris that he’s “so selfish” for not wanting her to go away for a weekend with a client she might be romantically interested in. It becomes increasingly difficult to like or identify with Chelsea as the film continues, yet one finds themselves mesmerised by her, and her surroundings. It appears to me that Soderbergh is making a comment on the money-obsessed world in which Chelsea and Chris (who charges his similarly well-off clinetele $125 an hour for personal training) exist. Conversation is always money-related, Chelsea takes note of the designers of everything she and her clients wear. In a shiny, sleek world, neither the characters nor the audience have much in the way of emotion or “real” personalities to cling onto.

The Girlfriend Experience is a film that leaves one thinking after the end credits have rolled – if you’re into that kind of thing. For those who enjoy being entranced by beautiful cinematography, who are not put off by a chronologically disjointed and confusing plot, and who are not deterred by somewhat of a lack of plot in exchange of a more meandering and thoughtful filmic experience, Soderbergh gives much to chew on. I myself wandered at for at least a couple cigarettes’ worth of time after the screening, taking in the subtleties of what ol’ Steven had explored with his strange and detached character study and wondered how on earth someone keeps something from being so boring and slow to the point of painful and instead brings a thought-provoking and aesthetically beautiful film to the table instead.

Verdict:

Slow, deliberately very “artsy” (not my words) and disjointed, yet interesting and certainly worth sticking with until it picks up the interest-level and starts to tie the seemingly unrelated threads together.

 

 

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