The Velvet Café

A young woman walks around in an office, performing various office tasks. She would look as a ordinary secretary if it wasn’t for the one thing that she has to use her mouth to do everything since she her arms are locked up by a weird device. This doesn’t seem to bother her overly much.

In the next scene we see the same young woman six months earlier, as she returns to her dysfunctional family after having spent some time at a mental institution. It doesn’t take long before she has locked herself into her bedroom and brought out a box of tools which she uses to harm herself. Apparently this is not the first time.

This is not the sort of beginning I expect from a romantic comedy. But then Secretary resembles to nothing else in the genre.

The woman, Lee Holloway, excellently played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, takes a job as a secretary for a lawyer, played by James Spader. It doesn’t take long before we understand why this firm has such a turnover of employees that they have put up a permanent vacancy sign outside their door door. James Spader’s character is unpleasant, demanding, not to say cruel, and few people would tolerate being treated like that at work.

This secretary however is different. She doesn’t just endure being told off for making a mistake or wearing the wrong kind of clothes; she even seems to take pleasure in it, so much that she starts to make errors on purpose, in order to get attention. Step by step Lee starts to explore a sexual side of herself that she hasn’t been aware of until now. The question is if she can make her boss follow her down that road.

A transformation
As much as Lee goes through a transformation does the film and the viewer.  I went from worrying about her mental health and the risk that she might hurt herself, into cheering for her. You can’t mistake the triumphant look I Lee’s eyes as she’s crawling on her knees, carrying the mail in her mouth as if she was a dog. This is clearly something she needs to feel happy and fulfilled in her life. I even started to get a little annoyed with her object of affection for reacting so slowly to her invitations. How hard could it be to give her a little bit of spanking?

How weird as it sounds, Secretary is a sweet little story: sex positive, very funny and super kinky. You may not feel comfortable watching it with your parents or children though.

Secretary (Steven Shainberg, US 2002) My rating: 4/5