Haus der Sünde

House of Pleasures should not be watched by anyone who is primarily interested in a strong story, an interesting plot, and character development. None of these things are in Bonello's film. He focuses primarily on capturing the atmosphere of the time or at least how the director imagines such a brothel atmosphere from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Paris in his artistic fantasy. Clearly, he considers it a part of the contemporary culture and finds the closure of brothels and the relocation of prostitution to the streets to be a loss of a piece of old Paris. At the same time, Bonello is a director who indulges in what I call artistic masturbation, meaning he strives for an artistic dimension in his film, so be prepared for long dialogues, empty gazes, ejaculate pouring from the eyes, etc. The viewer can gain some idea about the customs of the time regarding sexual matters, but it is certainly not a historically accurate view of the operations of brothels in that era, partly because the director idealizes their atmosphere and portrays the employees almost like the most exemplary work collective, where the girls feel somehow united and selflessly help and sympathize with each other. I would say that the ordinary operations and employees were much more down-to-earth and somewhat rougher even in the more luxurious category in which the film is set. Also, because those girls were essentially trapped there and didn't normally get out, cabin fever was probably quite common. The film didn't impress me because I don't really understand what the author wanted to convey, but it didn't offend me either because it is well cast with attractive actresses who also act decently, and the film can be credited with having a decent production design. Overall impression: 55%. (27.11.2011)

Das Haus der Sünde ist die Dekadenz und die Depression selbst. Die Welt der Petroleumlampen, der Korsetts, der Syphilis und des übertriebenen Make-ups begleitet eine Gruppe von Mädchen aus dem berühmten Pariser Rotlichtmilieu an der Wende vom 19. zum 20. Jahrhundert. Während Coppola in Marie Antoinette den Ton angab, wurde Bonello einer ihrer vielen Nachfolger und beschloss, sich der Zerstörung und dem Schmerz dieser Welt mit Hilfe ahistorischer Musik zu nähern. Außerdem hat er durch den Schnitt eine etwas andere Sicht auf die Welt vermittelt, und das ist ihm gut gelungen. Die unendlich traurigen Augen der verkrüppelten Jüdin, die unerfüllten Hoffnungen Julias und die leuchtenden Visionen vom Eigentumserwerb der Jüngsten... all das wird von einem fast greifbaren Gefühl moralischen Unbehagens eingerahmt. (05.12.2011)

This film is crucial for how the brothel is depicted. The rawness, almost naturalism of how some aspects of life in the brothel are recorded, is really disarming and can make watching it quite unpleasant. It's also because the story itself is almost secondary here, as the individual episodes are more important. (07.04.2017)