Elles (English Subtitled)

A story of a woman, a family, another world; its honest and real. I love the ending scene, life a usual.

Julliete is always brilliant but this is a very interesting movie with superb acting that Id recommend to anyone but the most extreme prude

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Some of the sequences in Malgorzata Szumowskas film are quite difficult to view - especially the scene where one of the student prostitutes (Anaïs Demoustier) willingly allows herself to be urinated on by one of her clients, or has a champagne bottle thrust into her vagina. These moments are designed to emphasize the pitfalls of the whores existence - even if both Charlotte and Alicja (Joanna Kulig) manage to make sufficient funds to support themselves in some style during their student lives. Nonetheless Szumowksa reminds us that we should not judge their decision too harshly. By contrasting their lives with that of well-to-do journalist Anna (Juliette Binoche), who is writing an article for ELLE magazine about their lives, the director suggests that in many ways the prostitutes live a superior existence. They enjoy an independence that is denied to someone like Anna, who has to spend most of her leisure time caring for a feckless husband (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) and her three children. ELLES is full of scenes where Anna is shown working alone in the kitchen, or talking on the phone to a disembodied voice. As the film closes, she is shown silently listening at a dinner party while Patrick and his friends prattle on about various subjects; in the end she grows so frustrated that she simply walks out of the house for a breath of welcome fresh air. In contrast both Charlotte and Alicja enjoy a considerable degree of independence; they exert power over their (mostly middle-aged) clients, to the extent that they can determine in advance what they will do and what they will not do. The money they earn gives them the spending power to please themselves. As the film progresses, so we see Anna becoming more and more enamored of the girls lives. She is shown talking in the park to Charlotte; the two of them become quite close to one another, as denoted through a series of two-shots. While alone with Alicja in Alicijas apartment, Anna partakes of vodka (although claiming that she does not drink), and ends up on a passionate embrace with the younger woman. While alone in her own apartment, Anna pleasures herself in an extended scene, where Szumowskas camera focuses on her face as she gradually comes to orgasm. Sex gives her the kind of power that she can never enjoy either at work or during her family life. In the end, however, that power proves illusory. The film ends with an extended shot of Anna sitting down to breakfast with her husband and two of her children - an image of familial normality that suggests mental as well as physical imprisonment. Although empathizing with the two girls, she can never enjoy their independence. ELLES is a thought-provoking piece, shot in deliberately low-key style. Director Szumowska achieves some striking thematic effects, most notably through the use of music that often contrasts with the emotions of the characters shown on screen. At one moment Anna is shown walking morosely about her living-room; on the soundtrack we hear the second movement of Beethovens Seventh Symphony - a homage to death. The grandeur of the music is set against the mundaneness of Annas life; she would love to improve it, if only she could.

Whatever the implications and motivations are, Elles—the female form of they in French—doesnt spell them out, preferring to let us draw our own conclusions. The reductive suggestion that all women are whores and all men essentially johns certainly plays in here, but the film is more complicated than that, recognizing that sex itself is complicated, a once-simple evolutionary imperative thats now tangled up in the web of human consciousness. In its non-procreative form, its ideally a mutual expression of love, but the film portrays its darker side as a commodity to be bought and sold. A power to wield. A source of frustration and a vessel for misplaced desire. This might be nothing new, but Małgorzata Szumowskas provocative treatment of the topic makes Elles worthwhile, and something more than just a showpiece—which it also is—for Juliet Binoches significant acting abilities.

I think the film did a good job dramatizing the disconnect between men and women and their need for play, adventure, danger, exploration, vitality in their relationships - in short everything that older marriages dont offer to the men and women who inhabit them. Juliette Binoche is always a joy to watch in any film, and the young prostitutes deliver powerful performances as well.

In Elles, lots of things were revealed and lots of things were concealed. Either way, the truth managed to escape: Youth is a burden and aging is a bitch. Theres no winning in the games people play and the only prize worth keeping is oneself.

It wandered too much. I could not.get a good sense of who these characters were or their motivation.

Could not get past the first 20 minutes. Not only was it uninteresting, but i was also not expecting subtitles. I watch foreign films quite often, but i have to be in the right mind set to read my movie and something has to keep my interest. Neither of these 2 factors were aligned on that day.

From Polish filmmaker/screenwriter Malgorzata Szumowska (Stranger, Happy Man) and co-writer Tine Byrckel comes a film about self-reflection in Elles. Starring actress Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Three Colors: Blue, Cache) and young talents Anais Demoustier (Therese Desqueyroux, Last Winter) and Joanna Kulig (The Woman in the Fifth), Elles was released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Kino Lorber. VIDEO: Elles is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1 anamorphic widescreen). While watching this film, there was something beautiful about the Michael Englerts cinematography. From scenes showcasing the women outside of their patio and you can see the buildings and scenery around them, for me it was the juxtaposition of beautiful images through Annes home. From her cooking food to wearing her silk pajamas, there was this look of beauty that was captured on camera. Almost heavenly to describe the living conditions of Anne, vs. the more grimy nature of her going to some location where graffiti is spraypainted on walls and she cant bare the thought of using the bathroom in that facility. But as beauty is captured in Annes home, theres also a beautiful capturing of sex scenes that involve Charlotte. They are subtle sex scenes but the way they were filmed was beautiful. Composition was fantastic! I didnt detect any problems during my viewing of this film on Blu-ray but overall, a solid presentation. AUDIO & SUBTITLES: Elles is presented in French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with English subtitles. The film is primarily front channel driven, dialogue was crystal clear and the music from the classical music channel also sounds great coming from the front channel. There is good utilization of music from classical music to Swedish electro-pop. Subtitles are in English. SPECIAL FEATURES elles comes with the following special feature: Edited and Unedited Trailers - Featuring the original theatrical trailer (1:52) and the red band trailer (1:55) Stills Gallery - Featuring seven stills from the film. JUDGMENT CALL: Elles is a fascinating film as it tries to show us another approach to why people take part in prostitution. It is known that there are women putting themselves through college through erotic dancing and sex, but what makes Elles so different is that these women are not complaining about the work that they do or the men they have sex with. They are mostly negative about the living conditions that they once came from. While Anne tries to probe into why the young women do what they do, there is no remorse for having sex with married men. Its through these men that these young women feel they are in control, it is their freedom to do as they wish and if they want to make money through prostitution, then so be it. Charlotte and Alicja are just happy to have the money to live the way that they want. And while Anne is surprised by this, she finds herself wanting to be with them, interviewing them but also putting herself in their shoes of how life would be to live like them and be independent, sexually free and just enjoying life like the two young women are. Meanwhile, these two women look at Anne and are envious because she is a person with status and living a life that they want. Charlotte tries to explain to Anne that she has no problems having sex with men but her past life of living poor is much worse than what she does to make a living. She will never return to that life of being poor and for Charlotte, her questions for Anne is if she has a window in her bathroom. Taking Anne by surprise, she starts to realize that these young women dream of having things that she never really took notice of. So, its this journey of watching how Anne transforms herself from being a woman and journalist under deadline, always stressed out but seeing that these young women living a life of independent freedom, she admires that. While her husband criticizes her to not talk about feminism during a dinner with his clients. Part of the efficacy of this film lies in the performance of Juliette Binoche. Not only is she able to portray the role of Anne as natural but she is also an actress that can take small nuances and play with it and make us feel comfortable and that her character is natural. One scene features the character of Anne eating with Alicja and Binoche just shows us a woman having fun, trying to chew but always laughing because she is drunk. Its such a natural way of acting this scene out and goes to show how much of a talented, veteran actress she truly is. The other part of the films efficacy is the cinematography by Michal Englert. The film looks absolutely beautiful because of his composition and on Blu-ray, the film looks great. The scenes of Anne working at home and trying to tidy up to the sexual scenes of the film, the way its presented in film looks great! I may need to warn people that this film does include many sexual scenes. I know that there are people who complained about the use of sex in the film. Personally, I thought it was integral to the film, which was showing how these women have no problem doing requests for these married men. These men are not able to have their wives enact their fantasies, but these two women will make their fantasies come true. I will say that I dont think I have ever seen a golden shower scene in a film before, so suffice to say, the film really goes out to show how far these two young women will go in their sexual exploits. But as far as the Blu-ray is concerned, picture quality for the Blu-ray was very good, lossless audio was crystal clear and as for special features, there isnt really much included with the Blu-ray but trailers and a stills gallery. Sensual, natural and entertaining! Overall, Elles is a film about life and self-discovery. Its also a film featuring a magnificent, realistic performance by actress Juliette Binoche. And while it may not be the best film to star Juliette Binoche, its definitely one of her best performances seen in a film!