Elles

They say prostitution is the oldest profession, and it certainly has been the subject of a lot of films. There has been a fascination through the ages about sex workers--how can they do it, why do they do it, and what does it do to them? Over the last few decades we have seen this from a female perspective.

In the 2011 film Elles, co-written and directed by Malgorzata Szumokowska, a magazine writer (Juliette Binoche) is working on a story about Parisian students who turn tricks. She interviews two: Charlotte (Anais Demoustier) who is a bit of a girl-next-door, and Alijca (Joanna Kulig), a foreign student from Poland, who is far more brash.

The film takes place over the course of one day, as Binoche finishes her article and prepares for dinner party (shades of Mrs. Dalloway). There are many flashbacks, though, to her discussions with the two women and their assignations. Both of them have a carefree attitude, telling Binoche that they just see bored husbands and it doesn't bother them. We see Kulig being urinated on, and Binoche has a hard time understanding how Kulig doesn't feel degraded, but the young women just laughs it off.

I'm not sure Elles says anything new about prostitution. These two young women are not working the streets--they are the upper echelon of escort--and there is no indication that they have been abused by any of their johns. They are doing it for the money, but admit to a kind of empowerment. Binoche starts to feel effects on her own sexuality (we see her masturbating, but we're not sure what she's thinking about). She also gets drunk with Kulig and they kiss, but nothing more is said about it.

It's also interesting that the film, directed by a woman, would be so salacious. Elles is borderline pornography, with several graphic scenes (including the urination one) so I wonder if it was intentional that this film be sexy to men.

Elles is an interesting example of the modern approach to films about prostitution, but it doesn't really have anything to say.