One of the strongest and best films I've ever seen. An unbelievable, haunting picture of society, condensed in the scenes in a brothel in the year 1900. A feminist film, on the one hand, because it always takes sides of the prostitutes concerned, but at the same time mercilessly in the portrayal of all the injustices that happen to them. Drawn in great pictures, overwhelming and sad, hopeful and desperate.
Already in the first pictures the film reaches the core of its plot, at the moment when one of her clients, François, will mutilate the prostitute Madeleine with a knife. The anticipation is still veiled, the perpetrator appears behind a mask in a dream, which Madeleine reports to her client shortly afterwards with confidence. But just a few scenes later the encounter becomes real, the brutal event goes on, and Madeleine will no longer be able to free herself from this moment, terrible and visionary it runs through the whole film.
We are in the "Apollonide", a noble brothel in the Paris of 1900, in which the clients come and go, while the prostitutes are condemned to remain without a chance. The operator of the brothel, whose children happily live between hookers and clients, watches over them, the rules of the game and the finances, which are not well looked after. The noble house, however, is threatened with early closure due to merciless rent increases, which is why Madame sends a letter to the prefect of the city of Paris for help.
And the house also knows another guest: One of the clients brings a black panther with him, which the camera will always show again during the course of the film. Only at the very end of the story, however, does this animal have the formerly only indicated key role in the revenge of Madeleine.
For the time being, however, the life in the Apollonide runs in orderly fashion. The prostitutes maintain company with their suitors, indulge in games, lay oracles, melodiously sound glasses by rubbing, bathe exuberantly in a pond, advise themselves on important activities in the intimate area and cuddle lovingly together in large beds.
And her number is growing: By means of a letter praising her advantages, 15-year-old Pauline announces herself in the House of Joy. It will be her who leaves the house almost symbolically before its final demise. At her soon-to-be performance, the operator of the house asks her if she ever wants to get married and adds that no prostitute ever has a chance of being really saved into a civil life by one of her clients. Pauline, on the other hand, emphasizes that she is only concerned with her personal freedom. The film thus links to Madeleine's dream at the beginning, her vision of the young man who visited her, and to whom the dream had promised her a love affair, which was replaced by brutal mutilation.
As the women inaugurate the newly arrived Pauline into the secrets of the business, one of them, Clotilde, surrenders to opium while the suitors avoid Madeleine, who is still living in the brothel, her face now disfigured by the suitor's knife. Only a man named Jaques shows interest in her and brings her to a burlesque-irrational festival, where she becomes the object of cruel, lustful and short stature for hours.
But the newly arrived Pauline experiences disturbing experiences, too, with a client who wants to bathe with her in a tub full of sparkling wine, while another forces her into the role of a geisha. Her companion Léa is also at the service of another client, by mimicking a lifeless, mechanically moving doll that is raped by the man while her gaze is fixed on a beetle on the ceiling.
But the pleasurable interactions also have an impact on the feelings of the clients, some of them fall in love with a prostitute and give her hope for a future together. And then again it is in the hands of the women: If they do no longer want to see one of them, he's sent a bundle of hair to signal that he is no longer wanted.
While Pauline reads the prefect's letter telling the madame that he could not help her and then says goodbye to the cathouse, another woman, Julie, is diagnosed with syphilis. Maurice, her admirer, immediately turns away from her; Julie dies, leaving a group of mourningly dancing friends in the Apollonide salon: One of the saddest scenes I ever encountered in all the thousands of films I've seen.
Shortly before its final dissolution, the cathouse once again pours into the splendor of a masquerade ball for the national holiday (July 14): Fireworks popping outside, Madeleine has a new lover, and François suddenly finds himself in a room with his judge...
Already in the first pictures the film reaches the core of its plot, at the moment when one of her clients, François, will mutilate the prostitute Madeleine with a knife. The anticipation is still veiled, the perpetrator appears behind a mask in a dream, which Madeleine reports to her client shortly afterwards with confidence. But just a few scenes later the encounter becomes real, the brutal event goes on, and Madeleine will no longer be able to free herself from this moment, terrible and visionary it runs through the whole film.
We are in the "Apollonide", a noble brothel in the Paris of 1900, in which the clients come and go, while the prostitutes are condemned to remain without a chance. The operator of the brothel, whose children happily live between hookers and clients, watches over them, the rules of the game and the finances, which are not well looked after. The noble house, however, is threatened with early closure due to merciless rent increases, which is why Madame sends a letter to the prefect of the city of Paris for help.
And the house also knows another guest: One of the clients brings a black panther with him, which the camera will always show again during the course of the film. Only at the very end of the story, however, does this animal have the formerly only indicated key role in the revenge of Madeleine.
For the time being, however, the life in the Apollonide runs in orderly fashion. The prostitutes maintain company with their suitors, indulge in games, lay oracles, melodiously sound glasses by rubbing, bathe exuberantly in a pond, advise themselves on important activities in the intimate area and cuddle lovingly together in large beds.
And her number is growing: By means of a letter praising her advantages, 15-year-old Pauline announces herself in the House of Joy. It will be her who leaves the house almost symbolically before its final demise. At her soon-to-be performance, the operator of the house asks her if she ever wants to get married and adds that no prostitute ever has a chance of being really saved into a civil life by one of her clients. Pauline, on the other hand, emphasizes that she is only concerned with her personal freedom. The film thus links to Madeleine's dream at the beginning, her vision of the young man who visited her, and to whom the dream had promised her a love affair, which was replaced by brutal mutilation.
As the women inaugurate the newly arrived Pauline into the secrets of the business, one of them, Clotilde, surrenders to opium while the suitors avoid Madeleine, who is still living in the brothel, her face now disfigured by the suitor's knife. Only a man named Jaques shows interest in her and brings her to a burlesque-irrational festival, where she becomes the object of cruel, lustful and short stature for hours.
But the newly arrived Pauline experiences disturbing experiences, too, with a client who wants to bathe with her in a tub full of sparkling wine, while another forces her into the role of a geisha. Her companion Léa is also at the service of another client, by mimicking a lifeless, mechanically moving doll that is raped by the man while her gaze is fixed on a beetle on the ceiling.
But the pleasurable interactions also have an impact on the feelings of the clients, some of them fall in love with a prostitute and give her hope for a future together. And then again it is in the hands of the women: If they do no longer want to see one of them, he's sent a bundle of hair to signal that he is no longer wanted.
While Pauline reads the prefect's letter telling the madame that he could not help her and then says goodbye to the cathouse, another woman, Julie, is diagnosed with syphilis. Maurice, her admirer, immediately turns away from her; Julie dies, leaving a group of mourningly dancing friends in the Apollonide salon: One of the saddest scenes I ever encountered in all the thousands of films I've seen.
Shortly before its final dissolution, the cathouse once again pours into the splendor of a masquerade ball for the national holiday (July 14): Fireworks popping outside, Madeleine has a new lover, and François suddenly finds himself in a room with his judge...