A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.
- Director
- Writers
- Erin Cressida Wilson(screenplay)
- Mary Gaitskill(short story)
- Steven Shainberg(story adaptation)
- Stars
- Director
- Writers
- Erin Cressida Wilson(screenplay)
- Mary Gaitskill(short story)
- Steven Shainberg(story adaptation)
- Stars
- Awards
- 15 wins & 26 nominations
Videos2
- Director
- Writers
- Erin Cressida Wilson(screenplay) (story adaptation)
- Mary Gaitskill(short story)
- Steven Shainberg(story adaptation)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
- Taglines
- Assume the position.
- Genres
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for strong sexuality, some nudity, depiction of behavioral disorders, and language
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaIn a 2018 interview Maggie Gyllenhaal called her role in Secretary "the first time that I was given a role where I could express something about myself," describing taking the role of Lee as an opportunity to "explore something that's on the edge of what I know about myself but with the protection of fiction." She also gave director Steven Shainberg a lot of credit for his collaborative approach, describing him as "interested in me as an artist, was interested in what I was offering, and the way that shifted the story, as opposed to whatever he had imagined before I got there."
- GoofsLee is bent over his desk and Mr Grey instructs her to pull down her pantyhose and underwear. When viewed in profile we see the edge of a bodysuit across her thigh. It's unlikely to be a tan line because she was completely covered (hiding her scars) while her girlfriends were in bikinis.
- Quotes
[Mr. Grey asks Lee why she cuts herself]
E. Edward Grey: Why do you cut yourself, Lee?
Lee: I don't know.
E. Edward Grey: Is it that sometimes the pain inside has to come to the surface and when you see evidence of the pain inside, you finally know you're really here? Then, when you watch the wound heal, it's comforting. Isn't it?
Lee: I... That's a way to put it.
- Crazy creditsThe legal disclaimer has typing errors:
- "fictitious" is misspelled "ficticious"
- "unintentional" is misspelled "unitentional"
- unauthorized use of the film is warned as resulting in "civil liberty" instead of "civil liability"
- ConnectionsFeatured in Late Show with David Letterman: Episode #10.42 (2002)
- SoundtracksWhatchamacallit
Performed by Juan García Esquivel (as Esquivel)
Written by Juan García Esquivel (as Juan Garcia Esquivel)
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Entertainment
Under license from BMG Special Products
Learning typing, she gets a secretary's job with lawyer E. Edward Grey (James Spader, who also turns in a first-rate, nuanced performance). Grey refuses to have any computers in his very smart, expensive law office. Like many lawyers he's a perfectionist who abhors typographical errors but his obsession with perfection reflects more than an anal personality hitched to a law degree. His solo practice seems to thrive better than his self-control of a suppressed sexuality, awakened by Maggie at first unknowingly.
This is a film about what many consider to be deviant behavior (sado-masochism and bondage-discipline, not your usual Hollywood romantic fun and games) that most will concur is uncommon in the workplace. Director Steven Shainberg and his cast - and Gyllenhaal and Spader carry the film, forget the supporting actors - show Lee and Grey's rocky and developing relationship with candor, without condemnation and without exploitation. The lawyer and his secretary are sexualized in a way few have experienced and those who have don't talk to folks outside their circle.
This is a black comedy/a black drama. It either grabs or repels the viewer: there's no in-between. The resolution? Is it realistic or a cop-out? I'd love to hear from those able to comment from experience on IMDb's discussion board. But I have a feeling few will post reactions.
A very different film that I rate 8/10 on a personal scale where I value the deep and tortured acting projecting the absorbing conflict of this sexualized working (initially) relationship.
- lawprof
- Sep 22, 2002
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Kotiba
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,059,680
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $182,306
- Sep 22, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $9,304,609
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