Friday night I went to see “Special Treatment” with the amazing Isabelle Huppert. The Film is a great study in Existentialism. After reading the puritanical description of this movie and after reading a few movie reviews, which completely missed the entire point of the movie, I decided to give my own deux centimes.
Regarding the titles. The original French title is existentialist.
“Sans queue Ni Tete.” "Neither tails nor heads" which arrives at nothing. I have no idea who decided that “Special Treatment” would make a good title when it has nothing to do with anything in this film. Special Treatment was a term used in WWII when someone was being sent to their death. No one dies in this film. If the English title is referring to the individualized treatment that the clients are receiving then that would make slightly more sense; however, no one truly is receiving special treatment in that sense since they are paying for their treatment/services being rendered to them. Alors, a more existentialist title would have been more appropriate and would have set the right tone for the film. Par example, like “Without Sense” ou bien “Arriving at nothing”
Oui, bad translations abound in the film. The beginning is the best example. While Huppert is walking through an antiques shop with her friend she begins a witty conversation about laying pipes and blowing pipe. I don’t think I have to explain what the conversation truly was about. Yet, the film’s translations really do not hint at the double entendre going on. It seems like they are actually talking about a bunch of pipes. Since my French friend was the only one laughing I am assuming no one in the theatre quite understood what was going on there.
The movie reviewer of the New York Times pointed out that Huppert called one of her clients chandelier because his money was going to pay for the chandelier that she wanted.
“For all of Alice’s deference to her clients, her contempt for them leaks out like a bad smell. She refers to one as “chandelier,” because the money she makes from him will cover the cost of a glittering ceiling ornament she has recently purchased.”
It is not contempt but rather indifference that she holds for others, she simply doesn’t care anymore. She calls him chandelier as a way to detach herself from him, as a way to distance herself.
Like the lead in Albert Camus, "The Stranger." “Aujourd’hui, maman est morte.”
There is a detachment there, he wasn’t cruel about his mother’s death, he wasn’t cold he was stating it as a fact. He, like the prostitute in this film & like the Psychologist is detached. Viola existentialism.
“...Ms. Huppert conveys an iciness verging on cruelty. When she matter-of-factly regales one potential customer with a list of her fees and services — 400 euros (about $575) for 30 minutes, with a minimum of 10 sessions — you wonder why any man would sign up for fun and games with someone so forbiddingly chilly.
Again, she is just delivering the facts, it is a business deal. If a man were sitting down and about to make a transaction with someone how would he act? This is sex, this isn’t dating, this is purely a session for someone to acquire something that they are not getting in their everyday existence.
“it is because man's condition is ambiguous that he seeks, through failure and outrageousness, to save his existence." Simone de Beauvoir
As far as the New York Times critic writing that she was too old. Brother, she was incredibly sexy and strong. There is a reason why the french have more sex and the women are considered sexier, it’s because they embrace their humanity and that beauty is in naturalness. This way of thinking allows the incredibly talented and lovely Kirsten SCott Thomas to still be working. This way of thinking is unlike the Hollywood Film industry where everyone looks, fake young, waxed, shiny, with a subtle shade of orange and a rigidness that makes them uncomfortable to watch.
“They're both assholes, but he's a bigger one.”
Not assholes, just lost. Assholes are people who deliberately treat people like crap, these two leads are simply drowning in their everyday life & do not know where to turn next. Then they find one another which leads them down a new path. Through new relationships they are able to find different paths to take.
Not assholes, just lost. Assholes are people who deliberately treat people like crap, these two leads are simply drowning in their everyday life & do not know where to turn next. Then they find one another which leads them down a new path. Through new relationships they are able to find different paths to take.
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