Le prix de l'innocence

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.

One unkind reviewer infers that friends etc are putting in the high ratings. They do not seem especially high to me and I give it a 6 because I believe Pao Maso gave an uneven, but in many ways a convincing interpretation of a lost Russian in America. At times I even thought he was filming for Russia as the depiction of gay men in this film showed up a lot of ' Western Decadence '. It could even be shown as a dreadful warning in Russia (it would be laughed off the screen in Moscow and St. Petersburg) but the provincial cities would lap it up. The message to me seemed, do not go West unless you want to experience rape, incest, being forced into female clothes and as Thelma Ritter said, immortally in ' All About Eve ', " Everything but bloodhounds at her rear end ". In fact as one disastrous encounter piled on another I could not help think that this was a kind of Lana Turner film from the 1950's. And at the end I asked myself, did the main character make all the wrong choices or was it dear old Russian fate!!! The shock ending was unbelievable, but then as some wit said, so is life. I just did not buy it, some may. And as for the general acting abilities of the other actors, well they could have all done better. So did I like the film at all ? Yes, because I truly believe Mr. Maso could make a truly good film one day. This had a certain pace and I was not bored. The sex scenes, given the unpleasantness of some of them were not realistic enough given the subject matter ( please Mr. Maso watch the French masterpiece ' Sauvage ' ) and there was a lot of fake clutching at sheets and crazy camera movements. Too many fig leaves do not make a savage film, and this set itself up to be one and half succeeded.

Excellent movie. Loved every moment of it. The ending had a creepy twist but was justified as it was a proper conclusion to the storyline. Aleksandrs accent is cute. The therapist is gorgeous. Overall a nice mature psychological thriller

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.

A poignant, powerful character study of a tortured young man. Pau Maso may be new to Americans but he is a seasoned actor. Beautifully composed. The narrative engages heart and mind. I have watched this marvelous movie five times. Each time Pau's nuances reveal themselves. I want to see all his works.