Choses secrètes

2002
16
1h 55m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Dark Comedy Steamy Romance Comedy Drama Fantasy Romance

Nathalie teaches Sandrine that sexual transgression can cause violent pleasure and give those who use it a powerful weapon to climb the social hierarchy. They decide to get a job in a bank, ... Read allNathalie teaches Sandrine that sexual transgression can cause violent pleasure and give those who use it a powerful weapon to climb the social hierarchy. They decide to get a job in a bank, a place where victims abound.Nathalie teaches Sandrine that sexual transgression can cause violent pleasure and give those who use it a powerful weapon to climb the social hierarchy. They decide to get a job in a bank, a place where victims abound.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

5.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins total

Photos15

+ 8

User reviews33

6.05.6K

Featured reviews

7ztanlines

Fun

Do you like well made movies with good acting and cinematography? Do you like trashy exploitation? If you answered yes to both of these questions then this is the movie for you. Some people are frustrated that someone would dare bring a story that belongs in a lurid paperback to screen with the former qualities, calling it cheap erotica with art-house pretensions. This is not true. "Secret Things" never overplays its hand and never asks to be taken as anything but what it is. It does not achieve things that a film like "Last Tango in Paris" does, but it doesn't try to (a good thing, given that it lacks Marlon Brando...). Instead, it tells a lurid story of manipulation and social climbing that is both quiet and operatic, sexy and repulsive. There's naked bodies present and food for thought if one is interested. A very well-made movie.

6=G=

Coulda/shoulda been better

"Secret Things" is about two beautiful young women, a stripper and a barmaid, who find themselves unemployed and decide to use their sex appeal as a tool to get on the fast track to success in the corporate world. Their scheme works well until they run up against a man who is even more cunning, ruthless, and base than they are. "Secret Things" opens with a nude autoerotic dance and appears to being going somewhere until it self-destructs in a crescendo of ponderous nonsense. The sagacious female protags become clueless dupes, the male antagonist turns into something so perverse it's almost funny, a black veiled figure with a bird appears and hangs out like some sort of specter, and the film quickly loses its credibility. "Secret Things" is chock full of sex which is obviously staged and the psychodramatics simply aren't believable. A coulda/shoulda been better example of when less would have been more. (C+)

7dbborroughs

sex as a means to an end

Two women who work at a bar decide to use sex to get what they want from life. While they become very successful, things also end up taking a turn or two that they didn't expect. I liked this very adult movie very much. This is a very sexy movie with some very likable women as the leads. The prospect of using sex as a means to an end is of course a way of life for many people, both male and female, and here we see it in action. Watching it I was surprised by how the film didn't go in the directions I thought it would and was pleased that it wasn't this dark noirish tale that cover art seemed to imply.Actually as I was watching the film I was struck by how much this film reminded me of Exterminating Angels, another off beat, but in a good way, French film about a director trying to get the right women to perform sexually for a film he was doing. When I checked IMDb after watching Secret Things I found that the director for both films was the same and that the process of making Secret Things was the inspiration for Exterminating Angels. I can't wait to have a double feature. A great deal of nudity and sexual activity, so keep this away from the kids. Recommended.

8lastliberal

We women lack confidence and daring.

Nathalie (Coralie Revel) is an exotic dancer, and Sandrine (Sabrina Seyvecou) is a bartender. They get fired by their scumbag boss and move in together where Nathalie teaches Sandrine how to use her femininity to capture men. They devise a plan to move up in the corporate world using sex to succeed.

They both get hired at the same bank and set their sights on Christophe Barnay (Fabrice Deville), as he will inherit the firm one day. She has no idea how twisted he truly is.

First, Sandrine gets a position under Delacroix (Delacroix), and uses her charms to completely captivate him. She gets Nathalie moved to the office, and soon they are a menage a trois for one night, as Christophe catches them and dismisses Delacroix, while promoting the both of them to higher positions.

Sandrine becomes involved with Christophe and his sister in another menage a trois. This leads to marriage and an amazing ending after his father dies.

Brilliant cinematography and music, and a fascinating story.

8anhedonia

Les liaisons dangereuses

A film about manipulative, mean-spirited and, at times, downright nasty people - and I absolutely loved it.

It's so refreshing to see a truly adult film these days. Not to mention, a film that doesn't just say it is erotic, it goes ahead and proves it. This is not a film for prudes, for those who are easily offended. But for adults who are willing to see some frank discussion about sex and some deliciously devious sexual politics, this film provides wonderful entertainment.

"Choses secrètes" is enormously entertaining with two thoroughly captivating leads. Sabrina Seyvecou, who turns in a spellbinding performance, has a sort of Heather Grahamish innocence and sexiness to her and, along with Coralie Revel, provides some of the most titillating scenes seen in a mainstream movie in many years.

There really aren't any good/wholesome characters in this film. But that's OK. (I suppose Cadene qualifies as a nice chap, but he's a minor character.) Because the cunning of the two women is so absolutely engrossing that you're quickly drawn into their wicked world. Watching them use people for their own ends and not quite knowing who is manipulating whom is one of the many charms of this sensual and exciting film.

The film comes apart toward the end. Unravels a bit, especially when writer/director Jean-Claude Brisseau resorts to awfully heavy-handed (and needless) symbolism. There's also a superfluous orgy scene that comes out of nowhere. I wish Brisseau would have come up with an original, atypical, less conventional denouement for his story.

If you like the works of Neil LaBute - "The Shape of Things," "Your Friends and Neighbors" and "In the Company of Men" - you should appreciate and enjoy "Choses secrètes."

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Trivia
In 2005, Jean-Claude Brisseau was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a EUR 15,000 fine for sexual harassment on two actresses (Noémie Kocher and Veronique Hirat) between 1999 and 2001 during auditions for the film. A year later, the director was again sentenced after the declaration of a third victim (Julie Quéré). The auditions called for the young women to masturbate themselves or one another in hotel rooms or in public places. Brisseau sometimes filmed the sessions, but not always. According to the actresses, the director sometimes masturbated himself - a claim he recognized during the investigation but denied during the trial. The auditions were repeated over several years before the director dropped the actresses claiming that they did not fit the part. Brisseau always said the auditions were conducted solely for artistic reasons.

Goofs
The level of champagne in Sandrine's glass varies from shot to shot on the first night in Nathalie's apartment.

Quotes
Nathalie: Next chapter: Men, a user's manual. First pick a good one. But don't fall all over him. Play the good, innocent little girl. Let him play protector.
Sandrine: We can all do that. Guys just want to get laid and move on.
Nathalie: That's why you don't fuck 'em. At least not just like that. Without letting on, study them, get them talking. Discover their weak spots and passions: money, cars, I dunno... success, work. When you find out, you flatter them. Then, once you've chosen your man, you yield to him. Never on the first date. He'll think you're easy. Don't wait too long, either. After 3 or 4 dinners, then give him the works. Give him pleasure, make him think only he can make you climax, play the happy, docile woman, but not for too long. Soon in bed, you stop faking. Not seeing you climax will get him all worked up. Then without warning, drop him and start fooling around. Overtly. One night stands. If possible, with another woman. It'll humiliate him, drive him nuts. He'll come crawling back.
Sandrine: It works every time?
Nathalie: Just about. That's the mystery of human nature... we want what resists or escapes us.
Sandrine: Who taught you that?
Nathalie: Life. My mother. But she and I were poor. I also read a lot. I had schooling like you. It didn't keep us from enduing in the same strip club. We women lack confidence and daring. Someone always has to be behind us, egging us on. We're a bit like the working class. My mother said they'd stay that way for one reason: they didn't dare move up. "Dare!" That's what she'd always say. She knew about human nature.
Sandrine: Meanwhile, no guy ever made me come.
Nathalie: I know. And that's just fine!
Sandrine: If you say so.
Nathalie: You'll soon understand. What'd you do with your guy?
Sandrine: I faked it.
Nathalie: Why?
Sandrine: I wanted to make him happy.
Nathalie: No, you felt guilty, thinking it was your fault. You were wrong. Lesson 3: femmes fatales are usually narcissists or lesbians. They're frigid with men. They come when they want to, which isn't often. It's their strength. With famous courtesans...
Sandrine: Want to make me a call girl?
Nathalie: No, I'm teaching you about life. Now, with famous courtesans each guy wanted to succeed where others had failed. Pride will make a man spend a fortune to be seen with them. Frigidity helps with men. Sex enslaves you. The slave must be the other. Now you can come on your own, you're free. Get it?
Sandrine: What about love?
Nathalie: Our Enemy Number One. The real risk. In war, if you stop to think, you die. If we fall in love, we're done for. Has your life been such a thrill until now? Be realistic: no one'll help you change your life. True love can wait. Now show me how you fake it.