Madame Claude

A drama based on real events.

It is about the life of a pimp woman in France and everything that goes into running such a business.

Quality.

Slightly parsimonious.

The time spectacularly recreated.

Good costumes and hairstyles.

Music instead.

Well-managed nude and sexual scenes, far from looking grotesque, add the touch to the film.

Talk about corruption, the prostitution business, what you have to do to survive in it. Of loneliness, love and what guides a person to get there.

The voice-over gives the film agility to get to know the character better.

Good performances.

Safety pin.

It carries the tone of French movies.

Editing does not help at times and it becomes somewhat confusing.

Not a high drama action film but interesting biopic of a highly ambivalent figure in a well reconstructed Paris of the late 60s/early 70s. Madame Claude is certainly no feminist hero, but at a very basic level she not a brutal pimp either: she does provide a "family" for her "girls" while managing her "business" in a male dominanted environment to satisfy male desires (but that does not prevent her from exposing her girls to dangerous situations and she certainly does not get the sympathy of the viewer). She operates at the fringes of legality yet police and security forces use and exploit her to their ends (and drop her likel a hot potato), while she also has to deal with the figures of the underworld... Film scores very highly on the reconstruction of the peculiar atmoshere of the period, and I recommend viewing this picture.

Trying to think what the point of this film is. Is it purely biographical? Probably. Are there any cinematic values? Probably not. An environment of prostitution would lend itself to some character development. There is none. Okay, there may be some other redeeming features. An interesting storyline, some surprises and plot twists. Nope. Normal acting and direction, nothing superb. This film doesn't rise above mediocrity.

Madame Claude (2021), dir. Sylvie Verheyde. I am not sure why this Netflix film has such a low rating at imdb. I found it to be, if not especially original, at least a plausible depiction of the world's oldest profession. There are quite a few films about brothels and madames, and it's true that this one does not chart any new territory with regard to the profession itself. Nonetheless, I found the acting decent and liked that the film was based on a true story and followed the entire trajectory of the life of Madame Claude.

A subtle exploration of female relationships with an added dynamic of sex. Aesthetically and fashion wise it is absolutely beautiful and the acting is great. The narrative format of following someone from when they just joined the brothel at the height of its success to when it was ultimately shut down and Mme Claude put in prison was enthralling. I completely do not understand the negative reviews on here. I mean, someone says 'why did she go to America?' Bruh have you ever heard of trying to escape prison???? A very common thing for heads of criminal organisations to do!?! Personally, I don't understand why I'd never heard of this woman before especially given how tied up to the French gov it all was. Yet if it was a male head of a criminal organisation I probably would've heard of them....