Maison Close: Season 1

Nice work on social empowerment.

this didn't even work as soft porn-amateurish-unbelievable and the unforgiving sin of being boring-don/t waste your time or money

Personal collection

Boring

Best to watch with your wife

Great item, quick service, thanks.

(NOTE: the following review contains minor spoilers). Maison Close gives us an un-sugarcoated, to the point of cringeworthy, depiction of life within a Parisian brothel, ca. 1871, referred to in the story as Le Paradis. In this existential universe nobody’s totally good or bad though our sympathies are generally with "the gorgeous ladies of The Paradise," the Madam, and even her gruff first lieutenant. The many characters and their complex story lines would do a Dostoevsky novel proud, and they are rendered in well-textured shadings. By contrast there are few bright spots among the boorish clients (mostly rich folks and heavy-handed representatives of officialdom) and the various parasitical, mostly male, hangers-on. On the whole these are a pretty squalid, amoral lot and don’t elicit a lot of sympathy from us. Yes, it was a man’s world in late Ninetennth Century Paris, but even then the times were a changin’, and the various nuances of the changes, i.e. how the women gradually gained the upper hand - at least within the walls of the Paradis - are eminently fascinating to watch. Much of the credit for the series' success must go to the performers who inhabit their roles with an impressive commitment and believability. Special kudos to Valerié Karsenti as the icy cold madam, Hortense, and Anne Charrier as the maison's star performer Véra. MC isn’t history though historical events very much figure into the story line, in particular the recent Franco-Prussian War, and the subsequent rise - and fall - of the Paris Commune, which were very fresh in everyone’s memory. Circumstances dictated that folks did what they had to do to simply to survive. As a result, bargains were sometimes made with the devil. The subtitles are much welcome: even if I spoke French, which I don’t, it would be difficult to follow the rapidly delivered, conspiratorially low-volume, whispery speech. A minor flaw is the DVD’s absence of bonus features. In a story which interconnects so much of history, culture and human experience, such extras scream out for inclusion. But alas, not to be. However, a welcome consolation is the generous collector's booklet. For all its unsavory subject matter, Maison Close is basically high class soap opera. But when it’s this compulsively watchable and rendered with this level of high-quality, albeit murky, production values, how can we quibble?

I purchased this in my pursuit of following the career of Jemima West. Glad I did. Taking place in Paris immediately following the Franco-Prussian War, the show is steeped in the mores of the period, and it does well in transporting you into that world. The story is centered around a particular government-run bordello, or "maison close," named Paradis (I don't know if "Paradis" existed in history, but the characters at times mention a competing brothel, "le Chabanais," which did exist in Paris, and was quite famous). There is a fair amount of depth to the plot, and if you are paying attention to the subtitles instead of the subtleties, it's easy to miss the facial expressions and mannerisms that help to tell the story, and you're likely to miss some understanding of why characters behave as they do towards one another. At times Maison Close resembles a sophisticated soap opera, but there is an insightful intelligence to it that usually lifts it well above lesser dramas. This series could have been so bad, but the quality of the acting, the sets, and sometimes the dialogue ended up with me giving the season 5 stars. It's distressing to watch how Rose (Jemima West) is forcibly inducted into the bordello; I imagine how this scenario could have happened given the circumstances in 1871, so I don't have any reason to doubt the portrayal by the screenwriters as anything but realistic for the period. While the adult nature of the premise ensures nudity, the sexual content here isn't more graphic than what is seen in a typical HBO drama. Speaking of HBO, Maison Close is on par with that level of programming (it aired on Canal+, a French premium cable TV channel). There isn't much room for humor in Maison Close, but they still manage to pull it off tastefully on random occasions. The most memorable example is a visiting Dr Lombardi who pokes and prods our heroines and then informs them of some conclusions from his research; the good doctor gets his just desserts after presenting his biased, half-baked findings. Overall, this first season of 8 episodes is a forbidding yet addictive show to delve into. Despite murder, mayhem, and the unfortunate exploitation of prostitution, Maison Close doesn't leave you in a pool of misery after indulging in it.

Una excelente serie, lástima que no indique que no tiene subtítulos en español.

excellent in all respects!