Malgorzata Szumowska has moved into dark and controversial territory. Yet while her ability to probe deeply into the sexual recesses of contemporary society is impressive enough; the range of control she exerts, over a story that in lesser hands could have proven unmanageable, is startling.
Juliette Binoche plays Anne, a wife, mother and – most importantly – a journalist researching an article about student prostitution for ELLE magazine. Anne finds herself drawn to two young women: a down-on-her-luck Polish student and a French girl from one of Paris’ housing projects. Both women have entered the sex trade for different reasons, and as they open up to Anne, we are allowed glimpses of the reality of their work. Meanwhile, Anne is forced to confront the bourgeois reality of her own life, where her husband seems married to his cellphone.
Szumowska’s film dares to explore a precarious region where perhaps only Catherine Breillat has ventured before. Female sexuality, in all its complexity, is placed under a microscope, turning Elles into a must-see film from a director whose talent has finally flourished. - Piers Handling, Toronto International Film Festival
