Comments on: Cannes Review: ‘L’Apollonide’ A Preposterous, Misguided, Sensationalist Bore About Prostitution

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:33:13 +0000

I don't agree at all. I have watched the film and I must admit that this is by far the best film I have ever seen in a long time.
Bertrand Bonello shows the difficult life of prostitues, how they are misinterpreted by society in a way showing that they are human with feelings and many problems that are difficult to solve. He shows these women are beautiful and kind , they try to survive by earning a living with prostitution. He shows that they are more human then other women because they help each other which creates a strong bond for instance when Samira finds out that the man she was going to sleep with was the same man who sliced up her friend. She instantly calls the others to take revenge upon him. They are never envious of each other but are like sisters. They are a family.
In addition, the colours ,music and clothing make it a perfectly directed masterpiece.
Then by showing the past and towards the end the 21.century, makes us realise our ignorance towards prostitution and that this problem still exists in our society.
L'Apollonide is an inspiring and important film that makes you realise how we are sometimes unbelievably lucky to have good lives compared to these women that have to struggle by selling their bodies for money. It makes you see how we all are sinners ,we are all human beings with feelings and fears.

By: Casey

Casey — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:33:13 +0000

This is a serious and complex film. It takes the audience out of their comfort zone. Not everyone will understand the film, including the author of this article. The film is about women that may have no other choice but to sell their bodies, about freaks that buy their bodies, about these women's inability to pay off their so called "debt", about cruelty, about general stigma that surrounds these women. The reference to the pseudo study in the film, the music, the ending – all help to make the audience understand – there are a lot of issues that stay relevant and acute no matter what century it is.

By: jonboy

jonboy — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:33:13 +0000

The film is neither polemic or sentimentally morose. True, the characters and the madame have their flaws. True, a bordello is a bizarre environment in which to raise children. Does the film make the audience think about the subject matter? There have been few films that have tried to deal with the matter genuinely: though, there have been comedies like Irma La Douce, and Pretty Woman, or more sordid dramas such as Midnight Cowboy and Christiane F, where prostitution is a means to an end. The juxaposition of Clothilde from an embittered opium user in a brothel of the early 20th century to a streetwalker and probable drug addict of the 21st, along with the musical interludes throughout, should appeal to anyone who has met or spoken with women who have been "in the business". The film shows that prostitutes are women who sell their bodies in order to live, and in order to deal with the social odium and hypocrisy, they live in a strange demi-monde "between the light and the half-light" – and no one film is going to address that in a way that will appeal to intellectuals and criticsc alike. The film portrays the women as victims who make the best of their lot and who are entitled to respcet and dignity. Prostitution was, and is, a risky business. Any film that deals with the issue without being censorious, judgemental or smug should be welcomed. Until the discovery of antibiotics, Syphillis was as incurable as AIDS is today. The film will take people out of their comfort zones, and make them think, which is no bad thing.

By: John Preedy

John Preedy — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:33:13 +0000

I saw this last night and I wish that I hadn’t. It wasn’t all bad but from the moment that the title sequence, which came after an introduction set at the turn of the 19th century, was accompanied by soul music, through the repeated central violent act, to the wake held for one of the girls, who dies rather rapidly from venereal disease, which was accompanied by the Moody Blues “Nights in White Satin”, I hated it.
I have never before seen a brothel portrayed as a sort of funeral parlour where everyone talks in hushed tones and no music is playing. If this was meant to convey the sadness of the situation surely it would have been better to try to contrast scenes of public gaiety with private sadness. In this film there was just gloom. I can’t imagine any client coming back after the first visit.
The film was written and directed by Bertrand Bonello and the man clearly has no friends, or at least none that he listens to, or none that dare to give him an honest opinion! His directing was self indulgent in the extreme. There was no need to repeatedly dwell on the scene where one of the clients disfigures a girl. The same girl describes twice a dream in which she cries out the sperm which this man has left inside her. Verbally this was a powerful image but there was certainly no need to try to portray it visually, it just looked ridiculous!
The film should be recut by an experienced film-maker and reduced in length by about 20 to 30 minutes.
I left this film profoundly angry and I don’t recommend it to anyone.

By: scribe

scribe — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:33:13 +0000

hilarious! They should have used that title as the tag-line!

By: meropi

meropi — Fri, 13 May 2016 14:33:13 +0000

And I was actually looking forward to this one… oh well.