Sessions, The

Based on the story of Mark O'Brien, a happy boy until aged 6 when polio paralysed his entire body leaving his brain and bodily sensations intact. He required an iron lung to survive although he can spend a few hours out of it everyday so long as his portable oxygen tank is nearby. O'Brien was palyed by John Hawkes. This is the story of Mark O'Brien the poet, not Mark O'Brien the actor - that is a different person.O'Brien became a poet and journalist. The story here was based on his desire, at the age of 40, to lose his virginity. He fell in love with a couple of women. Love did not work out for him - then he was introduced to a sex therapist, Cheryl Cohen, played by the enchanting Helen Hunt. Cohen described herself as a 'sex surrogate' she made it clear that she was not 'a prostitute'.Cohen signed a contract with O'Brien for 6 sessions of therapy in which she would teach him how to perform and enjoy sex in spite of his disability. After 4 sessions they succeeded, but in the course of which they felt that they were falling in love. Cohen was married, so they decided the best thing was to end the sessions.There is graphic nudity in this film, and one might ask whether so much of it was necessary, if any was necessary at all. It may be a poorer film if we do not see what O'Brien saw and felt. The sex scenes were tastefully shot, not meant to titillate but to convey what the protagonists were trying to achieve.Shortly after, O'Brien's house had a power shortage and O'Brien's iron lung failed. He was rushed to a hospital and was revived. There he met Susan Fernbach who became his life partner until he died at the age of 49. Cohen and Fernbach together with the other two women who felt deeply for him, Vera and Amanda, attended the Catholic funeral in which Fernbach read the love poem that O'Brien had written for Cohen during the sessions.This film is not just about the women - all wonderful people, wonderfully portrayed by the actors - who transcend sterotyping and aversity towards people with disabilities. It is also about those among us who do.

Mark O'Brien was a normal healthy child until he was striken with polio at age 6 and doomed to a lifetime or relying on others for his basic needs and his life-saving iron lung. The story could end there but O'Brien's brilliant mind and joy of living overcame all obstacles. O'Brien is not exactly paralyzed, he explains. It's his muscles that don't work. He can't move his body below his nexk yet he becomes a writer. He has feeling throughout his body but can't touch a person or object. He has a wonderful mind trapped in a body that has abandoned him.THE SESSIONS delves into one aspect of O'Brien's incredible life and the movie takes us on an incredible journey of life, love and hope. At age 38, O'Brien, with much guilty and anxiety, decides to hire a sex surrogate just to finally experience sex and physical closeness. He later wrote an article about this experience which became the basis of this book.We can look at Mark O'Brien with pity or revulsion, as many people did, or we can see him as an inspiration and a joyous creation from God. O'Brien lived an exceptionally long life, despite his condition, and touched the hearts of many. His was a true story of overcoming or at least accepting the worst obstacles life could give anyone.John Hawkes gives tremendous heart and depth to his portrayal of O'Brien. Hawkes went beyond the norm and refused doubles or special effects and turned his own body into the twisted posture of a polio-stricken O'Brien. Helen Hunt was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Cheryl Cohen-Greene, the real-life sex surrogate that changed O'Brien's life for ever. Hunt shows her remarkable acting talents as the surrogate baring not only her heart and soul for the role but her body in very tasteful but somewhat explicit nude and sex scenes. Both Hawkes and Hunt became their roles and the connection between the actors and the real-life characters is clear.Hawkes endearing speech pattern and smile and humor endears us the O'Brien he portrays. We just want to give Hawkes and O'Brien a loving hug and to relish his delightful humorous take on life and his tragic situation. O'Brien's moral dilema is strengthed by scenes with his parrish priest placed by William H. Macy. Macy's role is important as the Catholic priest helping O'Brien wrestle with his shame and embarassment along with his strong desire to experience sex for the first time. Macy's role could have been much more and somehow the priest seems one-dimensional as he listens to O'Brien's stories about the surrogate. Obviously, there is the connection between the two as far as not having sex, except the priest has made a decision to be celibate. O'Brien is trapped in a body that is not fully functional and any chance of a normal loving relationship with a woman seems impossible.THE SESSIONS will break your heart and inspire you at the same time. There is a sweet sadness to the story that is peppered with hopelessness yet the story is full of hope and joy. It is a remarkable story that the actors and writers brought to the big screen. This fine independent film will keep you thinking and wondering. The priest says God will give O'Brien a "pass" on breaking the rules against pre-martital sex because of O'Brien's predicament. The moral dilemma is heartbreaking since there is no one to blame or judge here.The writers treat the story with gentle humor. Hawkes's take on O'Brien is so lively and full of joy. There is an inspirational tone to the entire film that leaves the viewer curious about O'Brien's lifem along with a bittersweet sense of hope. It is a truly wonderful film.The extras on the film are rather limited and involve Helen Hunt and John Hawkes getting into their roles. There is an interview with the real Cheryl Cohen-Greene who talks very briefly about her career as a sexy surrogate. She never mentiones O'Brien and what relationship that had and how their sessions affected her emotionally. The movie leads us to believe they had a spiritual and emotional connection in their few sessions. Cohen-Greene certainly had an immense effect on O'Brien. A brief feature on the real Mark O'Brien would have been an added plus. We're led to believe he found love the last few years of his life, but did he? THE SESSIONS touches the viewer so deeply that we only want more information on Mark O'Brien and his life. The movie opens with scenes of O'Brien "driving" his bed around Berkeley but there is no mention if this is actual footage or not. Truly a remarkable film that leaves so many questions unanswered and has the viewer wanting more.

The Sessions is a 2012 biopic starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, and William Macy. Based on an episode in the life of poet and journalist Mark O’Brien, this feel-good movie traces the experience of O'Brien (played by Hawkes), a polio survivor living in an iron lung and dependent on full-time care, as he has his first significant sexual experience with a sexual surrogate, Cheryl Cohen Greene (played by Helen Hunt). Following the course of several “sessions” with Greene, the film offers viewers an intimate look at the sexual awakening of a thoughtful, seriously disabled man in his late 30s, sharing with the viewer the relations between the surrogate and O'Brien and also including the way this experience is shared with O'Brien’s closest friends and caregivers. The result is a charming movie, the sexual excitement and trepidation of adolescence reframed by the psychological and intellectual maturity of the film's subject.Based on O'Brien’s essay, “On Seeing a Sexual Surrogate,” there are many things the film gets right …At the same time, The Sessions also relies to some extent on established tropes of disability, leading to some especially troubling narrative choices...Viewers interested in The Sessions should also follow up not only by reading O'Brien’s essay but also by watching the documentary film of O'Brien's life, Breathing Lessons.

セラピストが心から青年に対し向き合いSEXの施し、心の安らぎを与えた優しいセラピストに感動しました。

マーケットプレイスで安かったので購入しました。国内版の半額以下です。いきなり日本語で著作権の警告が出てきたので、もしや日本語字幕入りかと思いきや、入っていませんでした。２０ヵ国以上の字幕が入っているのに、日本語がないのは、高い国内版を売るためなのかな。削除シーン、メイキング、予告編が入っており、日本語字幕と吹替えがないこと以外は、国内版と同じようです。　映画としては、寝たきりで人口呼吸器で生活する主人公のセックス体験がメインストーリーとなっています。たいへんな生活を描くだけでも立派な映画になるところ、セックスの悩みに絞って描いているところがユニークです。実際にセックスもするセックスセラピスト、代理セックスというのも、はじめて知りました。映画の創作かと思いきや、なんと実在するんですね。今は亡くなってしまった主人公の書いた原作がもとになっています。メイキングでは、監督、出演者と一緒にこのセックスセラピストも出演。ユーモアたっぷりに描かれている映画ですが、実話であることに、たいへん驚きました。　寝たきりの主人公を演じるJOHN　HAWKESという俳優さん、素晴らしい熱演です。メイキングで出てくる姿からは、同一人物と思えなかった。大胆なオールヌード（劇場では修正入らなかったのかな？）を見せるヘレン・ハントも素晴らしい。彼女、誰を演じても常にヘレン・ハントならではの魅力があって好きな女優さんです。ブルーレイで見ると顔の小じわやらがくっきり、映ってしまうのですが、なんとも魅力的だなあ。他にウィリアム・H・メイシーが共演。それにしても実在のこの主人公の、原作の魅力をきっちりと伝えるJOHN　HAWKESの演技は見事です。心地よい音楽も良く、夏のボストン？の緑多い風景も良し。なかなかの傑作です。

アメリカにはセックスセラピストっていう売春婦ではなく、ボランティア－がいるということが素晴らしいと思った。セラピスト役のヘレン・ハントがキムラ緑子に似ててすごくセクシーだった。障がい者とどうしたらうまくセックスができるかという双方の思いに感動した。そして、最後、挿入できてセックスがうまくいき、「DID　YOU　COME?」に「YES」と答えるところなんて、感動もの。英語のセックス表現も勉強になった。お薦めの作品です。

Wonderful performances by all the actors in this true life story about a severely disabled man who seeks the assistance of a professional therapist to help with the loss of his virginity and to experience some intimacy with the opposite sex. Very moving and thought provoking.

A very entertaining movie. No not because Helen Hunt gets her kit off but the story is sweet and touching. We forget that there is a person behind the facade that needs to be held and loved, though the disability create such an overhead that most people cannot cope. Btw... He had more girls than I did... So good on him