Secretary

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Movie
German title Secretary
Original title Secretary
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2002
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Steven Shainberg
script Erin Cressida Wilson
production Andrew Fierberg
Amy Hobby
Steven Shainberg
music Angelo Badalamenti
camera Steven Fierberg
cut Pam Wise
occupation

Secretary (reference title: Secretary - What can I serve?, DVD title: Secretary - sometimes love has to hurt ... ) is an American film by director Steven Shainberg from 2002 based on a short story by Mary Gaitskill . A mixture of romantic drama and black comedy shows the relationship between a secretary ( Maggie Gyllenhaal ) and her boss ( James Spader ). The film received the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival .

action

At the beginning of the film, Lee Holloway, a young woman who still lives with her family, is released from a mental hospital where she was admitted on suspicion of suicide . In her opinion, it is a misunderstanding because, although she tends to harm herself, she never wanted to kill herself. After her release and successfully completing a typewriting course, she decides to look for a job for the first time in her life. She gets a job as a secretary at lawyer E. Edward Gray, whose previous secretary is just tearfully vacating her job.

A dominant / submissive affair develops between the two , which makes Holloway forget her tendency to harm herself . When the sexual tension of the relationship in the form of a masturbation in the office discharges, Gray seeks distance. The resigned Holloway takes refuge in a half-hearted relationship with Peter, an acquaintance from high school days. A wedding is planned, but the fiancé cannot fulfill her newly discovered sexual desires.

Holloway returns to Gray in her wedding dress, who orders her to sit motionless at his desk while he decides whether he wants to be with her. Holloway remains motionless in this position for several days; she can't stop her family from waiting for Gray either. Finally, Gray returns to her and carries the nearly unconscious Holloway out of his office. Gray and Holloway get married and continue their BDSM relationship as a married couple .

Statement of the film

With the plot of the film, producer and director Steven Shainberg takes up a short story by Mary Gaitskills and tries “to make the behavior of the two lost souls understandable”, using the representation of the employment relationship as an S / M relationship and a soft criticism of capitalism . The protagonists, who find their long-awaited relationship to each other in this S / M relationship in silent agreement, often only talk about mutual glances that give expression to their own desires. They share torments that drive them to a highly erotic attraction. So Edward begins "to punish every lustful typo and every negligence Lee and develops absurd spanking rituals", which the film "illustrates like a comic". Key scenes are given a new value through sensitive staging and the brilliant actors. Although Edward remains unreachable and inaccessible most of the time, he adds to the movie's persuasiveness with controlled intensity and precision. The acting performance of Maggie Gyllenhaal contributes decisively to how Lee experiences her own desires and finally gathers her newfound courage to get what she wants and gives the viewer the "deeply romantic ending of his fairy tale". “At the end of a long journey, Wallflower Lee has found a form for her obsessions and for herself and blossoms in astonishing beauty.” Even if this path could only be determined through a difficult to define relationship between mutual exploitation and love.

Reviews

The lexicon of international film evaluates: “Original comedy, subtly staged with biting humor, but above all in the main role with confidence, in which admission of one's own abnormality stands in the way of love.” Film-dienst / Lexicon of international film

Michael Althen of the FAZ writes: “Where sadomasochism in popular culture often degenerates into a frivolous game with the signs of fetishism, it is taken so seriously in Steven Shainberg's film“ Secretary ”that the absurdly funny side of the matter is alluded to can. "

Jürgen Armbruster writes at the start of a film: “'Secretary' is first and foremost an interesting character study that dramatically casts a spell over the audience and knows how to captivate them. [...] Shainberg tells the fate of two outsiders at a leisurely pace, which limits the target group to an extremely small group. "

In Kino.de states, "director Steven Shainberg adroitly avoids the applied tragic potential in the relationship [between the boss and his secretary] and surprises with a disarming, loving and affectionate comedy about a insecure young woman submissive in their role find their fulfillment and to themselves. Not least thanks to the brilliant leading actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. "

Awards

Soundtrack

In the film are u. a. to listen:

literature

  • Molly Haskell, Erin Cressida Wilson, Steven Shainberg, Secretary: A Screenplay. Soft Skull Press, 2003. ISBN 1-887128-19-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Secretary . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2003 (PDF; test number: 95 453 K).
  2. ↑ a b film review at kino.de , accessed on February 10, 2017.
  3. ^ Secretary. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ^ Perverse happiness: Steven Shainberg's "Secretary" at faz.net, accessed on February 10, 2017.
  5. ↑ Jürgen Armbruster: Film review at filmstarts.de, accessed on February 10, 2017.