Elles (2011)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 99 minuten
Country:
France / Poland / Germany
Directed by: Malgorzata Szumowska
Stars: Juliette Binoche, Anaïs Demoustier and Joanna Kulig
IMDb score:
5,6 (7.958)
Releasedate: 9 September 2011
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Elles plot
"The world's oldest profession still has its secrets."
Anne is a Parisian journalist with a pleasant life who investigates student prostitution. She meets Alicja, a Polish student, and Charlotte, a seductive Frenchwoman. Their work and their clients offer them a way out of their social isolation and the opportunity to pay for their studies. As Anne follows the two ladies, she not only begins to be touched by them, but also begins to question her own motivations and sexuality.
Actors and actresses
Anne
Charlotte
Alicja
Patrick
Mutter
Sadist client
Saïd
Florent
Le père d'Anne
Stéphane
Reviews & comments
blurp194
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- 5543 messages
- 4226 votes
Anne's somewhat belated blossoming, the somewhat unbelievable combination of naive housewife and simultaneously seasoned journalist... as usual, quite sublimely portrayed by Juliette Binoche, although I did occasionally have a few doubts about her acting. The scene where the drunken ladies talk with their mouths full—apart from being slightly distasteful, I also found it unconvincing. It's not a big deal, though; the story is clearly a much weaker point of this film—especially in retrospect, it's a bit disappointing. Naively meandering, with neither head nor tail, motive nor purpose.
But what a beautiful girl Anaïs Demoustier is. And that's not to say anything bad about her acting, because it's also excellent. That makes the film very worthwhile. And it actually remains true that I can hardly find a film with Binoche in it bad.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 31191 messages
- 5473 votes
Malgorzata Szumowska makes the big mistake of putting Juliette Binoche at the center of Elles. Her ultimate goal is to show that young students who voluntarily enter prostitution can also face problems. Unfortunately, this doesn't work out at all. You initially get a whole section of film consisting solely of interviews, interspersed with sex scenes to flesh out the stories. But because either Juliette Binoche or the allure of sex is the central focus, you have little sympathy for the prostitutes. The scenes where the client goes too far are therefore less impactful than they should be, and the film then flows along at a leisurely pace. Moreover, it seems that Anne, the journalist, is only briefly shocked, and then her life goes on as usual.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 14596 messages
- 4552 votes
A fine film, though it feels like two shorter films that don't quite fit together. This is mainly due to the structure (although that's understandable), but also because both parts have their own themes, both of which are developed quite well. But as a whole, it's disappointing, because you don't really know what you've been watching. Yes, whether women are either whores or housewives. But honestly, I don't think that was the filmmakers' intention.
Anyway, Binoche—still a beautiful woman—plays a great role as a busy housewife with a job on the side. Also, notice how often she's shown picking up her socks from the floor and throwing them in the laundry basket. Very homely and genuine. The two girls with Binoche also have beautiful, sensitive roles, the sex is shown quite raw (and seriously, why would you want to pee on someone?), and the photography is very pleasing. Beethoven's Seventh-century melody finally rounds it all off. 3.5 stars.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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