Das bessere Leben

Parisian socialite Anne is an established journalist working for the magazine Elle. She is working on a new feature about young women who work as prostitutes in order to pay for their studies. The interviews she conducts with two girls who discuss their experiences openly give the journalist pause for thought. What does it mean to choose to sell ones body? And what does it say about society that wealthy married men are the ones who make the most of such ‘services’? Moreover, how should we react when these girls admit that they are not just in it for things like food and a roof over their heads, but that they actually enjoy what they do and hope that it will help them climb the social ladder? The film takes a broad look at prostitution as a phenomenon without making hasty moral judgements. Anne has to admit that in her profession she, too, is obliged to sell herself. Her marriage also involves her doing things she does not necessarily like but which seem requisite to maintaining certain material standards. The deeper she investigates the interplay between money, sex, love, freedom and enforcement, the more she discovers about her own fetters and desires.

Source: 62. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)