Secretary: The Screenplay (ScreenPrint) [Paperback]

Erin Cressida Wilson (Author), Molly Haskell (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003 | Series: ScreenPrint

In the film that was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Lee Holloway is hired for a secretarial position at the law office of E. Edward Grey, despite having only recently been released from a mental institution. It is not long before Lee and Mr. Grey embark on a workplace S&M romance. Her family tries to lure her back into the conventional non-S&M world, but Lee, now fully aware of her deepest feelings, refuses to budge. Based on acclaimed short story by Mary Gaitskill, SECRETARY toys with our expectations of love, sexuality and intimacy, while exploring the delicate balance between pain and healing, control and surrender. Shot through with bold, unflinching humour and a strange yet seductive eroticism, SECRETARY is, at its core, a powerful and unique love story.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Shainberg and Wilson have greatly enlarged Gaitskill's story... They know the kinks, the poses and the funny accouterments are finally beside the point. After all, it isn't how you find each other - it's that you do." - Los Angeles Times "In adapting [Gaiskill's story, Shainberg] has expanded it, fleshed it out, re-imagined it...recasting it as a fairy tale about erotic love." - Salon.com

About the Author

Erin Cressida Wilson is an award-winning playwright, novelist, screenwriter and professor at Duke University. She has had three critically acclaimed Off-Broadway productions, including The Trail of the Inner Thigh, selected as Best Play of 1999 by San Francisco critics. Steven Shainberg's award-winning films, including Hit Me, have screened at film festivals world-wide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887128190
• ISBN-13: 978-1887128193
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good screenplay, GREAT movie!!!, December 30, 2004

By 

LaDeBoBo (Aurora, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secretary: The Screenplay (ScreenPrint) (Paperback)

This screenplay was fun to read, and it is a good companion book for anyone who--like me--adores the film! It was fun to read all of the scenes that were cut from the movie, as well as to discover how some of the scenes were moved around or shortened. The interview with Steven Shainberg was also interesting to read...and finding out why Erin Cressida Wilson decided to write the script is enlightening (on many levels)! The only thing that annoys me is that there are only four color photos, but several black and white ones somewhat make up for this. Overall, an amusing screenplay for fans of the film!

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a most unusual secretary, November 4, 2003

By 

L O'connor (richmond, surrey United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secretary: The Screenplay (ScreenPrint) (Paperback)

The screenplay of this very funny story of an unusual boss/secretary romance is fun to read if you enjoyed the film, you get to read all the scenes that were cut. Most of the scenes involve Lee's family and friends, who feature more prominently in the screenplay than they do in the film. Particularly amusing is a scene where Lee watches her friends waxing their legs, and realises she has found another wonderful way of inlficting pain on herself. Later she rushes off to the chemist to buy loads of wax, another funny scene cut from the movie. The introduction, in which Erin Cressida Wilson explains how she came to write the screenplay, is fascinating. I found myself gritting my teeth with annoyance though, when I read the interview with director Steven Shainberg at the end of the book. Talking about Lee's life after the film has ended he says "I don't think she's going to end up a housewife.....this isn't someone who just stays at home". Oh no, perish the thought. It's quite alright to have Lee being spanked, made to climb into a garbage dump, wearing a saddle, crawling on the floor with letters in her mouth, urinating in her wedding dress - but God forbid she should be degraded to the level of being - shock horror - a HOUSEWIFE. I found myself thinking how nice it would be to be able to push Mr. Shainberg into a very large and smell garbage dump. Has the thought ever crossed his mind that she might find staying at home preferable to being stuck in some dreary office all day? No, I don't suppose so. Oh well, the screenplay is fun to read anyway.