Pay For a Happy Ending, and That's What You'll Get

While discussing the length of time it took to receive financing for his second feature film, Irina Palm, screenwriter Sam Garbarski claimed “It’s always the same old story—everybody is looking for an original script, but when you come up with one, it frightens them off.” But the truth is that as delightfully witty and fun as his film may be, it is not strikingly original. In fact, it may be best described as part Lifetime movie, part coming-of-age story, part male fantasy, and part chick flick. Yet while he manages to throw in every cliché from these genres, he does also somehow manage to rise above them.

A modern day fairy tale, Irina Palm tells the story of Maggie (played wondrously by Marianne Faithful), whose grandson has a terminal illness. His last chance depends on a new treatment being tested in Australia—unfortunately, neither of his parents earns enough money to afford the trip and Maggie, who has already sold her house to pay for his treatments, must try to come up with the money. After being rejected for loans and jobs, she naively responds to a sign in a window reading “Hostess Wanted.” She eventually finds out the meaning of the euphemism and realizes that the “hostess” is actually needed to perform a sexual service­—the one her pseudonym Irina Palm would suggest—with her hands. With the help of Micky, the strip club owner with a heart of gold who is played quite well by Miki Manojlovic, Maggie soon finds her services in demand by men all over London.

The film’s saving grace lies in the fact that Garbarski never really lets Maggie’s situation become more than what it is. He doesn’t attempt to glamorize the life of a prostitute, but he doesn’t treat it as below that of a secretary, for example. In fact, he somewhat scandalously draws comparisons between the two professions as Maggie begins to decorate the room with personal belongings in the same way a secretary would liven up her personal space. In his subtle social commentary, he depicts the position as merely a job that a woman without many other options is wont to take. Of course, the fact that she is doing this to save the life of her grandson also blunts any objections that one may have towards her occupation.

Garbarski’s choice to cast Marianne Faithful and Miki Manojlovic in the lead roles is also responsible for making the film better than what it might otherwise have been: Both are relatively unknown, with rather small oeuvres of films, but both are also highly accomplished. Faithful made her debut with Jean Luc-Godard and has gone on to work with the likes of Gus Van Sant and Sofia Coppola. Manojlovic has consistently worked with the esteemed Emir Kusturica and Goran Paskaljevic. Their superb performances, coupled with their unfamiliar faces, add to the realistic and gritty portrayal of middle-class life in London.

The ending ultimately loses the film’s non-fairy tale quality and fulfills Garbarski’s hopes for making a romantic tragicomedy. It rarely exceeds expectations, but like all the men who know what they’re gonna get from Irina Palm when they put in their couple quid, you’ll know when you buy that movie ticket that you’re paying for a happy ending.