A French Gigolo (Clientes)

French cinema has never been shy about depicting female desire.

Cliente, Josiane Balasko’s matter of fact comedy about the commodification of love, is no exception.An elegant entrepreneur in her fifties, Judith unapologetically engages male escorts to minister to her sexual pleasure. When she answers Patrick’s ad, she’s charmed by the sensitive fellow in the classic suit; it’s as if he stepped right out of the Nouvelle Vague films of her youth.

But from the get-go, things with this good-natured gent aren’t as efficient as with other lovers. Not only is he unable to sustain an erection on their second date, but power dynamics and his private life begin to muddy their arrangement…