Secretary

United States

2002

104 Min

Color

1.85:1

English

Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
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EXEC Jamie Beardsley, Joel Posner, P.J. Posner, Michael Roban

PROD Andrew Fierberg, Amy Hobby, Steven Shainberg

SCR Erin Cressida Wilson, Mary Gaitskill, Steven Shainberg

CAST James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Ann Warren, Stephen McHattie, Patrick Bauchau, Jessica Tuck, Amy Locane, Oz Perkins, Mary Joy, Michael Mantell

MUSIC Angelo Badalamenti

Sundance (Dramatic Competition): Special Jury Prize, Locarno (International Competition)

Synopsis

Sadomasochism provides the backdrop for a very unusual employer/employee relationship in this very offbeat romantic drama from filmmaker Steven Shainberg. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a shy young woman, who, after a brief spell in a mental institution, is released in the care of her overprotective mother (Lesley Ann Warren) and hard-drinking father (Stephen McHattie). Hoping to make good on her own, Lee begins looking for a job, and in her free time indulges in her odd habit of inflicting pain upon herself in various ways. Lee is hired as a secretary by E. Edward Grey (James Spader), a grim and ruthlessly efficient attorney who warns her that her work will be both dull and demanding. Lee takes to the job with genuine enthusiasm, and while she’s recently acquired a new boyfriend, Peter (Jeremy Davies), she’s far more intrigued by Grey’s coldly patrician demeanor. While Grey often criticizes Lee, she seems to thrive on his abuse, but one day he crosses a line when he insists upon spanking her after some minor mistake. Lee quite enjoys the treatment, and wants it to continue, but Grey can no longer take pleasure humiliating Lee when he knows that she likes it; he fires her, despite her pleas to be allowed to stay. Finally discovering the key to her sexual and emotional needs, Lee tries to persuade Peter to be rough with her, but he simply doesn’t have the taste or talent for it, and Lee soon maps out a last-ditch effort to win back her position with Grey, whatever the cost. Secretary won a special award for “Originality” at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Director

Steven Shainberg

Steven Shainberg (born 5 February 1963) is an American film director and producer. He is the nephew of author Lawrence Shainberg. Both are part of the Shainberg family of Memphis, Tennessee, founder of the Shainberg’s chain of stores, which is now part of Dollar General.

Shainberg received his BA from Yale University in English Literature and East Asian studies. After graduation, he worked as a location manager, assistant director, production coordinator, and assistant editor on a number of films, commercials, and rock videos. He also worked as an independent producer developing adaptations of Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent and Henry James’ The Americans. At the American Film Institute, he directed and wrote four short films including The Prom starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Andras Jones and J. T. Walsh. The Prom won the Grand Prize at the Houston International Film Festival, the Critics’ Award at the Breckenridge Film Festival, and the Silver Medal for Drama at the New York… read more

In 1998, his short film series “Mr. Virgil” ran for almost six months on MTV as well as his video for Debbie Harry’s “Strike Me Pink”.

In August 1998, Shainberg’s first feature film Hit Me based on the Jim Thompson novel, A Swell-Looking Babe, was released. However, Shainberg’s breakthrough didn’t come until 2002’s Secretary.

Secretary stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as a disturbed young woman who gets a job as a secretary to a lawyer played by James Spader. The story follows the two characters as they develop a sexual, sadomasochistic relationship. The film was well received and honored with numerous awards including a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Shainberg’s latest project, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr. is a fictionalized account of the life of renowned photographer Diane Arbus. The film, released in 2006, received mixed review from critics and was a box-office disappointment. —Wikipedia

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