L'Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close) 2011

Stephen Holden, New York Times: The heavy candlelit chiaroscuro paints the women as mobile Renoirs, Degases and Manets. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Erratic, occasionally WTF hilarious... Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Without soft-pedaling it-the story of "The Girl Who Laughs" alone will brush away that line of criticism-Bonello nonetheless mourns the extinction of the brothel, where the women at least had each other. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: It emphasizes setting over character and plot; and it casts a mood that's both eerie and entrancing. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: "Pleasures" becomes as enveloping - and sometimes as awkward - as one of the L'Apollonide ladies' heaving corsets. Read more

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic: Nothing in this film comes as a surprise, but Bonello's intent to show the place backstage as well as onstage is fulfilled and pertinent, even though the period setting gives the picture a curio air. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: Among other things, a sharp corrective to such effervescent red-light classics as Max Ophuls's "Le Plaisir." Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: It's a gorgeously filmed portrait of a bygone era, with painstaking attention to period detail. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: No one, male or female, has any fun, but the men behave as if they do. They are all half-stupefied by the languor in which they drown. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's about forcing us to think about people we never would otherwise and seeing their struggles and humanity. Read more

Jon Frosch, The Atlantic: What gives the film its haunting pull, as well as its feminist undercurrent, is the filmmaker's palpable compassion for these women. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: Seductive on the surface, steely underneath, this is an angry, fascinating, highly political film all wrapped up in costumed frilliness. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Glamorously louche. Read more