Cliente (2008)

A married construction worker leads a double life as a male prostitute serving rich ladies.

Director:

Josiane Balasko

Writers:

Josiane Balasko, Josiane Balasko (adaptation),

Stars:

Nathalie Baye, Eric Caravaca, Isabelle Carré

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nathalie Baye	...	Judith
Eric Caravaca	...	Marco
Isabelle Carré	...	Fanny
Josiane Balasko	...	Irène
Catherine Hiegel	...	Maggy (as Catherine Hiegel sociétaire de la Comédie Française)
Marilou Berry	...	Karine
Félicité Wouassi	...	Rosalie
George Aguilar	...	Jim
Sandrine Le Berre	...	Bérénice
David Rousseau	...	Alex
Guillaume Verdier	...	Zoltan
Jean-Christophe Folly	...	Toutoune
Richard Berry	...	Lucas
Maria Schneider	...	Marie-Hélène
Joaquina Belaunde	...	Rosanna

Storyline

Marco leads a double life. As Marco, he is a construction worker but rich ladies craving sexual excitation know him as Patrick. As Marco he is married to Fanny, an ambitious young woman who has opened her own hairdressing salon in partnership with her friend Rosalie. Marco/Patrick is not a male prostitute at heart: in fact he does the job in order to support his wife's business. Which doesn't prevent Judith, an elegant tele-shopping presenter who buys his services, from falling in love with him. But when Fanny learns what Marco does and with whom, she first gets mad but soon starts interfering in their affair.

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Plot Keywords:

double life | male prostitute | american indian | money problems | beauty salon | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Gaumont [fr]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

1 October 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

A French Gigolo

Filming Locations:

Brasserie L'Idéal, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, LGM Productions, Josy Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 104 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Josiane Balasko wrote the script a few years earlier but when she proposed it to film and television producers they all rejected it for being "shocking and inappropriate". Then she decided to make her screenplay into a novel, also titled 'Cliente'. Only after the book was a success could she find young producers who took the risk to have it filmed.

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Connections

References Brokeback Mountain (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Tweedle dee tweedle dum"
(Les rois mages)
Original lyrics by Lally Scott
French lyrics by Jean Schmitt Claude Carrère
Music by Mario Capuano and Giosy Capuano
(1971)
Performed by Leslie

User Reviews

Midi Cowboy

Pas mal, but so what? There seem to be a novel French cultural obsession with male love for hire. Last year gave us the total fluff of "Hors de Prix," but at least that had Gad Elameh, Audrey Tatou, Nice and Biarritz as a stunning backdrop. Cliente does a little better on the fluff side, with director (and excellent support actress) Josiane Balasko injecting some social concern in an otherwise lightweight comedy. Viewers are however left wondering if the setup was really necessary.

The story revolves around Marco, aka Patrick, escort for hire for older rich ladies in search of lunchtime company in Paris. Marco is pushed to the oldest profession by the need to support his wife's budding business, and therefore escape from a difficult cohabitation. When the wife Fanny finds out about the moonlighting, like the say, things will never be the same.

In any case Cliente delivers good fun, almost never misses a beat and has a couple of truly hilarious moments.