The Gigolos

Infobox Film
name = The Gigolos

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image_size =
caption =
director = Richard Bracewell
producer = Richard Bracewell
Tony Bracewell
writer = Richard Bracewell
Trevor Sather
Sacha Tarter
narrator =
starring = Sacha Tarter
Trevor Sather
Susannah York
music =
cinematography = Richard Bracewell
editing = Craig Cotterill
distributor = Punk Cinema (UK)
released = November 6, 2005 (World premiere)
flagicon|UK March 23, 2007
runtime = 95 mins
country = flagicon|UK United Kingdom
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.the-gigolos.com
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0462309

"The Gigolos" is a 2006 British feature film directed by Richard Bracewell, starring Sacha Tarter and Trevor Sather alongside Susannah York, Anna Massey and Sian Phillips. Bracewell's debut feature, "The Gigolos" is a buddy movie set in the twilight world of the London male escort.

The tag line (according to IMBD) is "Everyone Needs Someone", although UK promotional materials use the quote "A provocative glimpse at open secrets" from the Hollywood Reporter review.

The film was shot on location in London in 2004 and 2005. Bracewell wrote the story with Tarter and Sather, and was also cinematographer. The dialogue was improvised. It premiered at AFI Fest in Hollywood in November 2005. It was released in the UK on March 23 2007 by Punk Cinema.

Plot

The film begins at night with Sacha on a balcony on the south side of the River Thames in London, overlooking Parliament. Sacha smokes while his valet Trevor helps him dress. Sacha leaves the apartment block in his silver Mercedes SL480 (a reference to the Mercedes 450 SL Convertible Richard Gere drives in "American Gigolo"), crossing Westminster Bridge to a date.

Sacha first meets Joy, an ageing assistant in a publishing company, then Baroness James, a powerful government minister. Sacha dines and dates elderly clients (all over 50), sometimes providing something more. Meanwhile, Trevor goes about his business as both Sacha's valet and his pimp, sourcing the clients and booking hotel rooms.

One night, Sacha injures himself "on the job" in a swimming pool, so trains Trevor as his temporary replacement. Trevor is a surprise hit as a gigolo, and the pair go into competition.

Locations

"The Gigolos" uses locations in London's West End almost exclusively, especially Westminster, Mayfair, Piccadilly and the South Bank.

Cast

*Sacha Tarter as Sacha: top London gigolo
*Trevor Sather as Trevor: Sacha's faithful valet/pimp
*Sian Phillips as Baronness James: a government minister
*Susannah York as Tessa Harrington: a fashion agent
*Anna Massey as Edwina: an ageing socialite

oundtrack

The film mixes classical and popular music, from Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and the duet "Au fond du Temple Saint" from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, to Ian Dury and the Blockheads' "Clever Trever", "Sleazy Bed Track" by The Bluetones and "California Dreamin'" by Bobby Womack.

Reviews

Since its AFI Fest premiere, "The Gigolos" has received mostly positive reviews, from amongst others the two leading trade magazines. "Variety"'s Derek Elley described the film as "a natural for rep houses and upmarket movie channels" [cite news | author = Derek Elley | title = The Gigolos | publisher = Variety | date = 2007-03-21 | url = http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933147.html?categoryid=31&cs=1] while in "The Hollywood Reporter", Sheri Linden wrote it is "an effective slice-of-life portrait of characters" [cite news | author = Sheri Linden | title = The Gigolos | publisher = The Hollywood Reporter | date = 2005-11-07 | url = http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001434697] .

On its UK release, reviews appeared in major UK newspapers. Sukhdev Sandhu of "The Daily Telegraph" said that Bracewell "evokes with poetic clarity the loneliness of late-night London." [cite news | author= Sukhdev Sandhu | title = The Gigolos | publisher = The Daily Telegraph | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/03/23/bf30023.xml#3 | date = 2007-03-23] Ian Johns in "The Times" wrote that "intimate camerawork and scenes moodily capture half-revealed lives". [cite news | author = Ian Johns | title = The Gigolos | publisher = News International | url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article1549867.ece | date = 2007-03-22] Larushka Ivan-Zadeh in "Metro" told readers to "seek out this cliché-confounding, utterly intriguing debut Brit flick", adding that this "The Gigolos" is a "real rough gem." [cite news | author = Larushka Ivan-Zadeh | title = The Gigolos | publisher = Associated Newspapers | url = http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/films/article.html?in_article_id=42381&in_page_id=27 | date = 2007-03-23] . Mike McCahill wrote in "The Sunday Telegraph" that this is "a disarming debut...that subverts your every expectation with each new scene."

Less positive reviews came from "The Guardian" and "Time Out". Andrew Pulver in "The Guardian" said the lead actors "manage to raise a few giggles, even if events remain pretty inconsequential." [cite news | author = Andrew Pulver | title = The Gigolos | publisher = The Guardian | url = http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,2040311,00.html | date = 2007-03-23] "Time Out" reviewer David Jenkins complimented parts of the film - there's some "ravishing imagery of central London" - but said the drama "is light on insight." [cite news | author = David Jenkins | title = The Gigolos | publisher = Time Out | url = http://www.timeout.com/film/84162.html | date = 2007-03-21]

References

External links

* [http://www.the-gigolos.com Official site]
*imdb title|id=0462309|title=The Gigolos
* [http://www.punkcinema.com Punk Cinema]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A20786277 BBC Film Network interview with Richard Bracewell]