The Girlfriend Experience is a film unlike any other. A complex meditation on contemporary capitalism and hyper-consumerism in the upper-class, everything about this film is a product of itself and the condition of humanity in this layered and calculating society.
The protagonist is Sasha Grey; a real life 20 year old hardcore porn star playing a call girl Christine aka Chelsea that is seen in the film, comforting, listening, concurring but not having sex (on screen) with various non-descript men. Perhaps this is the point.
Avant-garde and mainstream dualist filmmaker Steven Soderbergh who is responsible for the "Ocean's 11" remake and its sequels dabbles in low budget indie flicks from time to time, and this is his latest opus. Grey is an object of desire in 'real life' and in this movie is the same item wrapped in different packaging. Her character is an object, not a protagonist that we feel for or who drives story and produces satisfying outcomes. This was perfectly conceived by Soderbergh, and is the reason why he has chosen Sasha, the controversy of casting an adult film star is over-shadowed by her cold, subjective performance, that touches on her inadequacies, lack of confidence and willingness to excel as a reputable call girl and not a cheap 'whore'.
Most characters in the movie do not have a role; merely titles. John (prostitute speak for client) #1, #2, a journalist, a boyfriend, a creep, etc. Ultimately we could personify any one of these characters, and this film has the potential to draw you in; to whomever you feel you could be given that situation.
In this throwaway culture, loveless sex is profit and passive entertainment, filling lonely voids; often 'The Girlfriend Experience' in its form is simply being given the chance to be heard without judgement. The director's experimentation with this passive observatory style creates a truly alienated but bolded overview of capitalism at its core, which cannot be judged thoughtfully. These overtones are highlighted using masterful camera work, focusing from a distance on the characters monotonous conversations from a behind view, the out-of-focus camera also fixated on contemporary design such as the light fixtures in the many upper class cafes and restaurants visited in the film, brand names and entranceways, suggesting a completely non-bias view of whatever is happening as that is not being focused on, not sided towards either character or their opinions or conflict, they do not matter and are not interesting in this context.
Another trick is the use of music in the film, which is erratically coming and going, cutting bluntly and in one scene fading into a street performer's song instead of a melody in Chelsea's head and life. This and the camera work well together to create the short-lasting impression that this is a film with character focus, it lulls us into this premise before a flash of exciting camera work and loud music blitzes back into the mundane nothingness, comparable to removing headphones quickly, the silence seems louder, and this is the point, there is no escapism here.
The last main technical accomplishment is the random narration over scenes from Chelsea who describes tonelessly her clients, their brief activities and what fashion she prepared for her 'meeting' with them. This further accentuates that this is a study of the situation and not an involvement.
The characters are purposely not developed, they are simply given lines that briefly explain who they are and what they do and this gives room for complex interpretation. It is clear Chelsea is in a loveless relationship, moreover one of convenience, filling her emptiness, until something else comes along that makes her feel anything; arguably capitalism could be defined the exact same way. Her boyfriend Chris (played by Chris Santos) has an arrangement, with rules and boundaries that they live by, a Zen-like aphorism for the films premise; a relationship that is unnatural and lifeless.
This feeling is intensified by the use of blurred and contrasted scenes involving her Boyfriend, they are noticeably a different tone of brighter colour, and it is designed this way to give the impression that they are leading extremely different lives. The scenes are convoluted; a situation occurs and the audience has no idea what is happening, until two scenes later, an unexplained flashback that somehow explains it. Perhaps a tool to enunciate the feeling of controlled chaos.
The consumerist lifestyles and ideologies are included in this film as under-tones; Chris is a personal trainer, which is ironic considering Chelsea has all the power and control. Her lifestyle choice is also an interesting sticking point; her belief in Astrology, as new-age religion, a product of capitalism, is mentioned and used for her as an excuse to attempt to fall in love again. Chris is upset, but this scene where she confesses this to him is played with such unemotional delivery and heartless rationalism which leads to deal making and the best outcome. Perhaps Chris is The Boyfriend Experience.
Each client Chelsea encounters are semi-successful business executives, so their conversations to her are always regarding business, in particular the economic crisis, circa 2008, in an attempt to remain relevant in order to connect us to this 'fictional' world of capitalist consumerist ideals.
The Girlfriend Experience is a sleeper hit and masterwork of filmmaking into an art form that personifies an intangible concept; Capitalism. The passivity of the film can be interpreted as voyeurism, the point of the film that you have possibly seen it because a porn star is in it, the human condition to watch other people's lives play out, essentially breaking an existential wall as we watch the society that watches. I highly enjoyed The Girlfriend Experience; it is a movie I was absorbed in, fascinated by the subject matter, the distance and loneliness that was not focused upon and that masterful technical approach Soderbergh applied.
9/10