Film tackles taboo subject

After screening the film “Cliente” at the Byrd Theatre Saturday, director, screenwriter, producer and actress Josiane Balasko said she did not judge characters portrayed in her film. This might be surprising considering the film portrays the lives of a French gigolo, his client and his pimping wife.

Balasko and her husband, French actor George Aguilar, stayed after the film’s screening at the 17th Annual Richmond French Film Festival (known until this year as the VCU French Film Festival) to answer audience questions. Most of the questions revolved around Balasko’s inspiration and goals for the film.

According to Balasko, the script was subject to much criticism when people first read it. She quickly discovered the topic of an older women’s carnal dependence on a gigolo proved too embarrassing, even in the early 2000s when she first pitched the script.

Balasko’s script was repeatedly rejected until she published “Cliente” as a novel. The novel became extremely popular with French female readers, which allowed her to realize the idea on screen six years later.

Balasko said many Western films investigate the roles of male clients and female prostitutes in society. Few, however, delve into the lives of male sex workers and their lady customers, because society is not as comfortable with feminine lust.

Balasko said French and American films, such as “Pretty Woman,” glamorize female prostitution. She said male gigolo movies are ignored, however, because it is an ugly and shameful life.

“There is always silence for women,” Balasko said. “I wanted to make some noise.”

‘Cliente’

Nominated for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition and screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, “Cliente” centers around Judith (Nathalie Baye), the director of a popular home shopping show. Judith is a 51-year-old divorcée who shares a close relationship with her sister (Josiane Balasko) but fails to share emotional closeness with a man until she meets Patrick (Eric Caravaca). Of all of the gigolos Judith hired in her years as a client, he is the only one who manages to touch her beyond a physical level. Patrick, however, is married and in love with his wife, Fanny (Isabelle Carré).

-Christine Stoddard

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