"House of Pleasures" depicts a highly cinematic and atmospheric look at the final days of a turn of the century brothel when much of the Parisian sex trade was confined to grand maisons, populated by elegant madams, and vetted clientele (including French filmmakers Jacques Nolot ("Before I Forget") and Xavier Beauvois ("Of Gods and Men")). Shared within L'Apollonide's walls are the lives of the Madam (Noémie Lvovsky) and close to a dozen girls among them: Madeline (Alice Barnole) who is horribly disfigured by a client and becomes known as "the woman who laughs," Clotilde (Céline Sallette) the veteran who longs to be a "respectable woman," and Pauline (Iliana Zabeth) the newcomer whose eyes are quickly opened to reality. Despite the fact that desire often mixes with danger and disease rears its ugly head, the film is filled with moments of intimacy and camaraderie amongst the girls. Using cinematic techniques which include split screen, time shifts, and a modern soundtrack, Director Bertrand Bonello has made a provocative and beautiful film on not only the world's oldest profession, but also a commentary on history as remembered by art and literature.
Genre: Drama
Language: French with English subtitles
Rating: NR (adult situations)
Release Date: November 25, 2011 (New York and Los Angeles)
Running Time: 122 minutes
Director: Bertrand Bonello
Cast: Hafsia Herzi, Céline Sallette, Alice Barnole, Adèle Haenel, Jasmine Trince, Iliana Zabeth, Noémie Lvovsky (9 additional actors)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1660379/f...
Official Site: http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/house-o...
Note: also searchable with the title "House of Tolerance"
Bio and/or Filmography
Hafsia Herzi: http://www.fandango.com/hafsiaherzi/f...
Adèle Haenel: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1194748/
Noémie Lvovsky: http://www.fandango.com/noemielvovsky...
Clip from the song "Give it Up (Start Again) (ft. Subliminal)", used by permission, was made by snowflake http://ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/3...
Original screen designs and text edits completed by graphic designer, Lisa3679, and gamer NathanWubs.
Amazingly enough, given the logjam of indie releases each week in New York and other major markets, fewer movies of note slip through the nets of Nashville’s commercial theaters than they did during the heyday of Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema 20 years ago. But Sarratt’s “International Lens” series is now the most reliable fail-safe for those that do miss commercial release — and they’re not only shown free but presented oftentimes with accompanying insights from Vanderbilt’s faculty.
The most acclaimed film of last year that didn’t show in local theaters was likely House of Pleasures, Bertrand Bonello’s study of an elegant Parisian brothel in the year 1900 whose luxuries mask another form of confinement. The movie was hailed for its languid, immersive atmosphere, its daring use of anachronistic music cues (including a Moody Blues classic and Lee Moses’ electrifying soul single “Bad Girl”), and a tone that acknowledges both nostalgia for the workers’ camaraderie (and relative good fortune) and the suffocating grind and continuing perils of transacted intimacy.
“As Bonello details its nightly routines, the brothel takes on the qualities of an organism, one that’s mostly bonded in feminine solidarity, but nonetheless subject to forces beyond its control,” The A.V. Club’s Scott Tobias wrote. “Without soft-pedaling it in the least, Bonello nonetheless mourns the passing of a time where prostitutes didn’t control their destinies, but at least had each other.”
In French with subtitles, the movie is sponsored by Nashville Premieres, the band of philanthropic cinephiles whose track record of bringing first-rate fare to Middle Tennessee predates the Aughts. It screens 7:30 p.m. tonight at Vanderbilt's Sarratt Cinema; click here for more information (including details about where to park).
