Maison close (2010)

Set in a lavish 19th Century Parisian bordello, the provocative and popular French erotic drama Maison Close invites American audiences into a sumptuous, stylized world where desire and power reign. Following the suppression of la Commune, a short-lived workers' revolutionary movement in the 1870s, a cast of gorgeous women trapped by circumstances reside in “Paradise," a top-rate "closed house" reserved for aristocratic or bourgeois clientele and known for its strange and refined practices during a time of legalized prostitution. Hortense (Valérie Karsenti) is the ruthless and manipulative madame who runs her business with an iron fist; Véra (Anne Charrier) is the stunning star courtesan in her 30s nearing the end of her career; and country ingénue Rose (Jemima West, Mortal Bones: The City of Instruments), arrives in search of her mother, only to be blackmailed into becoming a prostitute. By turns both erotic and political, this uncompromising, finely crafted television series is the perfect mix of style and substance, a richly compelling period drama with unmistakably modern flair that reimagines age-old themes--and the world's oldest profession--in bold new ways.