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Soderbergh, Sasha Grey Explain <em>The Girlfriend Experience</em>
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 30, 2009
Modified Apr 30, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 30, 2009
Modified Apr 30, 2009
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Set over the course of one weekend in the posh restaurants, hotels and bars of Manhattan, The Girlfriend Experience explores the inner life of a young, high-price call girl as she tries to balance her fraught career path with her seemingly typical long-term relationship with a personal trainer. The action, so to speak, takes place in October 2008—with the financial industry in free-fall, Chelsea, the escort in question, spends less time between the sheets than she does listening to various affluent white guys completely freak out about the economy.
Directed with signature finesse by Steven Soderbergh, the film's kinetic, intimate style turns out to be an ideal frame for the performances of the non-professional actors who fill out the principal roles (as in his previous film Bubble). Surprisingly subtle adult film star Sasha Grey slips into the part of Chelsea with guarded ease, and real-life trainer Chris Santos is pitch-perfect as her live-in boyfriend, who's left devastated when he can't stop her from crossing the line with one of her clients.
After a screening last night at the Tribeca Film Festival, Soderbergh explained, "The movie is about transactions. It sounds cold or clinical to say this, but I think that's what life is. Life is just a series of transactions. We all want something, whether it's emotional or monetary. Even if you're someone who says, 'I want to sit here and just be left alone.' You are going to have to negotiate on some level just to achieve that." Moderator Caryn James then asked Soderbergh about a comment he made in a previous interview: that what he does in his commercial films is the same as what Chelsea does. Below, his response, and the trailer for The Girlfriend Experience, which screens one more time at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday night.
What I said was what I do for a living is no different. Someone pays me for my time, for my ideas. I don't see any real distinction about it because I don't hold sexual activity as some sort of exalted activity that is sacred with a little spotlight on it that we all need to be so careful about. It strikes me as something that is everywhere, that is common to every species that walks this planet. I passed a bus shelter on the way here with an ad for a show called "The Cougar." And the tagline is, "One older woman, twenty younger men." That's on TV, and they're being paid to be on this TV show! What is the word for them? What am I supposed to call them? You know, when people start getting uppity about the escort world, I'm like, "Are you high?" What about "How to Marry a Millionaire"? What is that, exactly? Like a lot of people I just get frustrated by this hypocrisy.
The biggest laugh of the night came when Soderbergh remarked on the legalization of same-sex marriage in Iowa, and recalled how earlier that evening he passed two men outside the theater (in Chelsea) holding hands: "I almost yelled at them, 'Hey, we're not in Iowa!'"
Tagged
sasha grey
steven Soderbergh
the girlfriend experience
tribeca film festival
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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