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Review: Special Treatment (Sans queue ni tête, 2010) ★★★

<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">There is no doubt that Isabelle Huppert is an extraordinarily talented actress and a modern staple of French cinema&period; From her rendition as the sexually frustrated protagonist in Michael Haneke’s <em>The Piano Teacher<&sol;em> &lpar;2001&rpar; to her Oscar-nominated performance as a rape victim seeking revenge in Paul Verhoeven’s <em>Elle<&sol;em> &lpar;2016&rpar;&comma; Huppert has a knack for bringing characters to life whose psychological states often envelope their entire being&period; Even when interpreting otherwise mundane characters &lpar;which is not the case in <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em>&rpar;&comma; she brings a reserved eccentricity that is simultaneously confusing and mesmerizing&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Her lines are delivered as if she is indifferent to the final result&comma; and yet there is something so genuine about the way she engages with her characters&comma; as if there is little &lpar;if anything&rpar; separating her identity from the ones we see on screen&period; Her portrayal of an escort at the end of her rope in <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em> is no different&period; She seems nonchalant to the point of being absurd&comma; indifferent to her client’s pleasure and her own pain&period; And yet&comma; as is usually the case&comma; the character is incredibly believable&period; Despite the degree to which she embraces her characters and exceeds the high bar that has been set for her&comma; <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em> falters in its heavy-handed storytelling and lack of self-awareness&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Huppert plays Alice&comma; an aging Parisian escort who has become disenchanted with the life she lives&semi; the threats of violence from clients&comma; the often disturbing roleplaying and sexual mind games&comma; and the severe judgement from the rest of society all push Alice to despise the lifestyle that she feels too weak to escape from&period; She even seeks out the help of various therapists&comma; only to be rejected and made to feel ashamed of her chosen path&period; Meanwhile&comma; a psychoanalyst&comma; Xavier Demestre &lpar;Bouli Lanners&rpar;&comma; experiences marital woes and becomes disconnected from his patients&period; When his marriage seems all but over&comma; Xavier seeks out Alice’s services&comma; drawing each character into the other’s world&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">While the story is engaging and the performances admirable&comma; there is almost no ambiguity in <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em>&period; The parallels drawn between a struggling psychoanalyst and escort are plain to see&comma; fully displayed without any nuance or insightful exploration&period; Xavier plays the part that his patients wish him to play&comma; becoming a mere caricature of an analyst to meet their expectations&comma; while Alice dresses up as a school girl or a dominatrix to fulfill her clients’ every fantasy&period; This comparison sounds interesting on the surface&comma; but it is never fully developed and doesn’t offer any extra insight into either profession&period; The film does provide an interesting glimpse into the life of a professional escort&comma; but it is overshadowed by the frankly lackluster parallel between Alice and Xavier’s professional lives&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1019" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1019" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1019 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;ibg68v1brcoxirlg2z2k&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Isabelle Huppert sex in Special Treatment" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"450" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1019" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Special Treatment &lpar;2010&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1"><em>Special Treatment<&sol;em> also suffers from an all-too-familiar story arc&period; When the film begins&comma; and we are introduced to Huppert and Lanners’ respective characters&comma; it seems as if it will develop into an introspective art film that allows the characters to speak for themselves&period; Unfortunately&comma; the plot is structured in a very deliberate and traditional fashion&period; Without giving too much away&comma; it follows a very predictable hero’s journey&comma; in which Alice and Xavier must encounter a variety of contrived life experiences to make them recognize their own strength and encourage them to reach their respective goals&period; Alice wants to escape the sex industry and lead a normal life free of shame&comma; while Xavier wants to reconnect with his wife and revitalize his stale medical practice&period; If not for the vague&comma; directionless dialogue and Huppert’s rather eccentric character&comma; <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em> could be mistaken for any number of Hollywood character studies&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Despite its shortcomings&comma; <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em> is actually a very engaging film&period; Thematically&comma; it never quite hits the right tone to match the exemplary performances&comma; and with better direction&comma; it could have been a far superior film&period; Nonetheless&comma; if you are a fan of Isabelle Huppert&comma; or are simply looking for a film that gives a glimpse into the life of an escort&comma; then <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em> is well worth your time&period; However&comma; tread carefully&comma; as it still gives a stylized and glamorized account of life as a Parisian escort&comma; and tries much too hard to make us see the contrived similarities between therapist and sex worker&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rating&colon; &starf;&starf;&starf; out of 5<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">If you&&num;8217&semi;d like to watch <em>Special Treatment<&sol;em>&comma; it is currently available to purchase or stream via Amazon Prime <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;Special-Treatment-English-Subtitled-Isabelle&sol;dp&sol;B0135OKHV4&sol;ref&equals;sr&lowbar;1&lowbar;1&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;qid&equals;1510049937&amp&semi;sr&equals;8-1&amp&semi;keywords&equals;special&plus;treatment&plus;isabelle&plus;huppert">here<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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