The Girlfriend Experience (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	77:36 (Case: 74)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Steven Soderbergh
Studio Distributor	Icon Entertainment	Starring	Sasha Grey Chris Santos Philip Eytan T. Colby Trane Peter Zizzo Ron Stein Marshall Gilman Michael Roberts Vincent Dellacera Jim Kempner
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Ross Godfrey

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    In between making The Informant! and Che: Parts One and Two in 2008, Steven Soderbergh found the time to knock off this quick, experimental film that owes itself to improvised theatre. The Girlfriend Experience was made for a tiny $US1.3 million dollars using an inexpensive digital Red One camera, utilising natural lighting and 80% of scenes being one take. Soderbergh even edited the film himself.

    Soderbergh has shown his filmmaking versatility throughout his career, making both big-budget Hollywood films as well as art-house independent films, casting big name actors and unknown first-timers. The Girlfriend Experience showcases the first-time acting abilities of Sasha Grey, who is famous for being an adult film actress. She plays a call-girl named Chelsea who offers clients a complete 'girlfriend experience', allowing the client to dictate his demands, whether they need emotional or physical intimacy. Her boyfriend Chris (played by unknown actor Chris Santos) is a personal trainer who similarly offers his clients a personal service in training and developing their physiques. The film is set during both the 2008 US Presidential election and the global financial crisis that occurred in October 2008. The impact of these events, the financial uncertainty for both Chelsea's and Chris' clients and its impact upon their services, is a major theme in the film. Ultimately, Chris and Chelsea have to decide on the impact of this situation upon their business and their personal relationship.

    Critics such as Roger Ebert and Mike LaSalle have lauded this film. That may be because they are familiar with Soderbergh's independent films throughout his career; after all, it was Ebert who championed Sex, Lies and Videotape after its success at the 1989 Cannes and Sundance Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 63% out of 100 critical rating, whilst the film's MRQE metric score is 69, meaning that general movie fans have a more mixed view of the film. This may be due to the unconventional, non-linear style of the film (although the frequent, uncredited flashbacks have become a now common Soderbergh plot device), the unique over-exposed and under-exposed shots done in long takes, eschewing quick cuts for dialogue and using middle-distance shots instead of close-ups. Why the film was shot this way may be anyone's guess, perhaps Soderbergh wanted a raw edge to the film.

    The Region 4 release incorporates the added bath scene after the end credits; in Region 1 this scene is unavailable on DVD but is available on Blu-ray as an 'unrated, alternate cut'.

Video

    The Girlfriend Experience was shot digitally using a Red One Camera using natural light, so some scenes are deliberately light, dark or out of focus. Thus the video transfer is not a reference quality one for DVD.

    The aspect ratio is 2:35:1, 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions.

    There is deliberate grain included in the transfer, as well as out-of-focus sequences and excessive contrast. This may be due to the low budget of the film, or maybe Soderbergh wanted to present it as a voyeuristic opportunity for its audience.

    Colour is varied throughout; some scenes have an abundance of natural, outdoor colour, some have dominant whites and blacks.

    There are no film artefacts at all. All the issues with the video transfer have been an intentional creative choice. Even the grain is deliberate as the average bitrate is 6.97 m/b per sec, which is very good for a DVD transfer.

    Subtitles are provided in English. These are very easy to follow.

    There is no RSDL change as the film is presented on a single-sided DVD disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Audio is mainly 'natural-sounding', with effects focusing on natural sounds like ambient plane, restaurant and street cafe sounds.

    The main soundtrack is encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 kbps.

    The soundtrack has a lot of dialogue, so this has been mainly untouched during the editing phase of the film. Dialogue is therefore easy to follow.

    Music is infrequent and doesn't overwhelm the soundtrack. There is however a great sequence aurally where a street musician is filmed playing a modified percussion set.

    Surround channel usage is fairly limited as most sound comes from the centre speaker.

    The subwoofer is not utilised often in the soundtrack either.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Unlike the Region 4 release by Icon, the Region 1 release includes an audio commentary with director Steven Soderbergh and lead actress Sasha Grey and the original theatrical trailer. An alternate Dolby Digital 2.0 mix is offered, as well as Spanish subtitling. Why Region 4 DVD collectors continue to get differing releases from their Region 1 counterparts with extras often left out is beyond me. Quite frankly, I find this continued practice frustrating and inexcusable.

    The Girlfriend Experience is definitely not for your average moviegoer. This is a look behind the lives of people who promote themselves as a service, and the compromises they need to undertake to continue to provide their services.

    Apart from the lack of the Steven Soderbergh and Sasha Grey commentary, the fact that I had to sit through trailers for Fame and B.Girl and other non-skippable advertising makes the presentation of this film onto DVD in Region 4 a frustrating experience. Do yourself a favour; if you are a fan of Soderbergh's independent work, and want to get this on DVD, then import it from Region 1.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall