Today, we are going to talk about escorts. The high-end variety: young ladies, beautiful and expensive, the kind that get Republican politicians in trouble. I want to start with a film recommendation. In 2009, Steven Soderbergh did something a little different for his project of that year, a little thing called The Girlfriend Experience
. Real-life porn star Sasha Grey stars as Christine, who goes by Chelsea, one of the afore-mentioned escorts. The film is a glimpse into a few days in her life, and the life of her boyfriend, a personal trainer who doesn't seem to mind [mostly...] that she has sex for a living. And then Chelsea meets a client to whom she feels an instant connection, and wonders if it may be something more. It lends itself to some interesting discussion: what is love? Is love at first sight a real thing? How is this girl's concept of love affected by the work she does?
Which brings us into our main topic: the film
, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, a Persian filmmaker highly acclaimed for his recent film
Certified Copy
. This most recent film takes place in Japan and stars Rin Takanashi as Akiko, a college student who pays for her studies by working as an escort. One night, she is assigned a “very important man” (Tadashi Okuno) but he isn't interested as much in sex as he is in talking to her and getting to know her. The film has received fantastic reviews, and even competed for the Palme D'or at last year's Cannes Film Festival (losing to Michael Haneke's
Amour
).
Village 8 presents
Like Someone In Love
as the newest installment in the Louisville Exclusives series. It is scheduled to run until next Thursday, April 11, but this may be subject to extension. Village 8 is located at 4014 Dutchmans Lane. Further theater information and showtimes can be found at the Village 8 website.
Image: Internet Movie Database