Le prix de l'innocence

This is a really strange, at times puzzling movie about the lower depths of the New York gay club scene filled with enough internalized homophobia to sink the Good Ship Lollipop, as well as the Titanic. A lot of things in it make little sense, and I think that Pau Maso really overestimated his skill and even talent trying to do everything on it-act, write, direct, etc.

But ultimately I found it appealing and even satisfying-Aleksandre hits pure rock bottomn and has to either come up or die. And he does come up, and survives.

I have always said, after many years of living in NY, that if you want to destroy yourself, there is a whole army of people in New York who will be more than happy to help you do it; then once they have pushed you to your own self destruction, they will just go on to the next sucker.

This movie proves it.

Perry Brass.

As my review title suggests, this is a very real and emotional repreentation of what it's really like in the world of escorting. There are a lot of strange people out there who use and abuse escorts or 'sex workers' as we now more affectionately refer to them. People forget they are real human beings with real feelings. Pau Maso as Actor, Writer, Director and Editor really hammers home the reality of this largely hidden world. A low budget film with a real meaningful punch. I will be watching this again for sure. Given also the film was shot using equipment relative to a low budget feature, it really does look great on screen. I watched this on my large cinema scren at home and was very impressed.

The story, told in flashback sequences in a therapy session with a psychiatrist, follows the story of a young Russian man brought to New York by his unstable mother searching for his father. After her suicide, Aleksandr, who lacks immigration documentation, goes for a "dancing" job in a gay strip bar, and ends up as a high class prostitute. He does not enjoy his work, but finds himself with no viable choices. His horrendous experiences take him further down to the brink of suicide. Many of the scenes are frightening and appalling. This is a damning look at the seamy underside of New York gay life. It is never made plain whether Aleksandr is gay or not (I do not believe he is). None of the gay characters is sympathetic. Well worth watching. Pau Maso is outstanding as Aleksandr. The other actors turn in creditable performances.

Aleksandr was dealt a bad deal in life. He lost the only family he had and he'd undocumented. Two things that make a bad combo. Yes, lonely undocumented people in a city can fall into things they don't want.

Aleksandr is trying to figure out who he is and what he wants. He hooks up with a guy, tells him it's his first time, and the assumption is that he's a prostitute. How does that make sense? Another guy hands him money after being together and says he's so good that he must be a professional and throws money at him. There are plenty of people who are good at it who have never been paid for it. It's just such a weird thing.

Aleksandr also has a penchant for completely ruining relationships but they always come back and want to be his friend. They say he's a nice guy but his actions don't convey it.

Wherever he goes people seem to know he's a rent boy even when he looks sullen and doesn't so much as glance their way.

This could have been a decent movie but it wasn't. There are much better movies of a similar vein. Skip this one.

Poor script, poor cinematography, poor direction, poor acting (though not sure if it's the actor's fault. Just a titlilating tale of one dimensional characters.