The posters displayed in Paris Métro stations show a slim woman in her 50s in a cocktail dress, reclining on a leather sofa. Her hair is natural, her makeup understated, her smile satisfied. In the foreground, a man, his torso nude, slips two 100-euro notes into his pocket.
The posters were advertising “Cliente,†a popular movie that revolves around clichés about prostitution and gigolos in France. Judith, the client, who is played by Nathalie Baye, one of France’s highest-paid actresses, is not a pathetic, lifted rich woman of a certain age and nothing to do. Rather, she is a hard-charging, 51-year-old television shopping-channel anchor and director who, after her marriage falls apart, wants good sex without strings and is willing to pay handsomely for it.
For Josiane Balasko, 58, the director, author and actress (she plays Judith’s sister), the goals were twofold: to shatter a long-held taboo in France and to send a positive message to middle-aged women who find themselves alone and wanting sexual fulfillment.
“Prostitution is the last sexual territory owned by men,†she said in an interview. “Men are in control of pleasure and have the right to buy it. Women do not. A lot of my friends are alone, lonely, divorced. They can’t always reinvent themselves with another man and a new family. So I decided to show a female client of a male escort. She’s not a victim. She is a woman who is in control of her life, her feelings, her sexual pleasure.â€
Six years ago, Ms. Balasko could not sell the television screenplay. Its subject, she said, was considered “too raw, too hot.†After the book version became a best seller, it was easy to attract financial backing for a film.
“Cliente†comes at a moment when France is struggling with boundaries: the public portrayal of sex and sexuality, the limits of privacy for its public figures. This is the case, even though historically, the French are much less conflicted than Americans when it comes to sex.
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