'Secretary' (2002) - a slightly different love story

Before E.L Jamese's '50 Shades of Gray' became a bestseller (and I must admit that I gave up after around 30 pages, not my cup of tea) there was a different Mr Gray although with similar fetish (S&M), and he is one of the main characters in wonderfully funny, dark and saucy movie 'Secretary'.

The story begins when a young woman Lee Holloway  (played superbly by Maggie Gyllenhaal) leaves a mental hospital, she has a history of depression and self-harm caused by living in dysfunctional family with: alcoholic father, weak and obsessive mother and 'perfect' sister.  To become more independent Lee takes up a type writing course and finds a job as a secretary of a domineering perfectionist Mr E. Edward Gray (played by James Spader). Edward refuses to use a computer and makes Lee type all the documents on an old fashioned typewriter, at first their relationship is strictly professional but the eagerness and dedication with which Lee fulfils all of his commands and her apparent vulnerability starts to grow on him. Scared of his feelings he tries to scare her of by abusing her every time she makes a mistake, this has an unexpected result due to the fact that Lee is in fact a masochist and secretly enjoys the intensity of what's happening between them. And thus a sensual, intense and incredibly entertaining to watch game begins.
The love story between the main characters is not a typical submission-domination relationship, in many ways Lee is stronger then Edward, when she realises his feelings for her she is the one to provoke him, lead him and finally to persuade him it's worth to be in a relationship.
Both leading actors are magnificent, Gyllenhaal's portrayal of neurotic and damaged Lee is pitch perfect, Spader is a great mixture of restraint and underlying tension, spiced up with moments of  real warmth and emotional sensitivity.

You will either love or hate this movie and I really love it, it's one of my all time favourites because underneath the kinky concept of S&M hides a beautiful love story about two somewhat weird,lonely and damaged human beings discovering themselves and finding their kindred spirit.

Every time I watch 'Secretary' this quote quote from Robert Fulghum (although made famous by Dr. Seuss) pops into my head :

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”