House of Pleasures

2011 2h 6m FR

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 291

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The dawn of the 20th century: L’Apollonide, a luxurious and traditional brothel in Paris, is living its last days. In this closed world, where some men fall in love and others become viciously harmful, the women share their secrets, their fears, their joys and their pains.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Noémie Lvovsky
Marie-France
Hafsia Herzi
Samira
Céline Sallette
Clotilde
Jasmine Trinca
Julie
Adèle Haenel
Léa
Alice Barnole
Madeleine
Iliana Zabeth
Pauline
Judith Lou Lévy
Prostitute

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bertrand Bonello
Writers: Bertrand Bonello
Languages: French, Spanish
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bertrand Bonello, shot by Josée Deshaies. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bertrand Bonello. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Fabrice Rouaud shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Noémie Lvovsky and Hafsia Herzi and Céline Sallette carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1660379 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bertrand Bonello directs. Josée Deshaies behind the camera. Bertrand Bonello scores. Fabrice Rouaud cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in French, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 15 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Spanish.
3Directed by Bertrand Bonello, shot by Josée Deshaies. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Bertrand Bonello. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Fabrice Rouaud shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Noémie Lvovsky and Hafsia Herzi and Céline Sallette carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt1660379 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 14 themes, including "paris, france", "brothel", "eroticism", "sexual fantasy".
9Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Josée Deshaies
Original score: Bertrand Bonello
Editing: Fabrice Rouaud
Production design: Alain Guffroy
Costume design: Anaïs Romand
Makeup / hair: Fabrice Herbet
VFX supervisor: Cédric Fayolle
Sound: Jean-Pierre Laforce
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: House of Pleasures (2011)

Awards

Lumière Award for Best Female Revelation
César Award for Best Costume Design

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Bertrand Bonello

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-07-19
★ 7/10
Though utterly depressing pretty much from start to finish, this is still a compelling film to watch as we follow a group of girls who are caught up in the most vicious of circles. They all work for "Madame Marie-France" (Noémie Lvovsky) in her slightly upmarket, but now fairly jaded, brothel. It's not just a "knocking shop" - the girls are expected to entertain their guests, to chat, sip Champagne and indulge their paymasters in anything they want. It's a dangerous way of life for these women. They are mired in debt - a debt their hostess ensures never shrinks, how ever much they earn. Some of their clients are benign, even generous - but most are there to treat them as disposable commodities. There's no star as such, each actor has a moment in the sun as we deal with abortion, addiction, violence and even the odd rather naive degree of optimism as "Clotilde" (Céline Sallette), "Julie" (Jasmine Trinca" and "Samira" (Hafsia Herzi) show us just what slavery with gossamer chains looks like. The pace might be a little slow at times, it is prone to a little repetition and the constant stream of (exclusively female) nudity does start to lose it's potency and look a little gratuitous after about an hour; but as a plausible observation of the hopeful amidst hopelessness at a time and in a city where nobody cared much for their plight, this is an engaging story that cleverly mixes up it's narrative with some poignant dialogue and strong performances.

Production companies