House of Pleasures (DVD), Ifc Independent Film, Drama

A turn-of-the-century brothel becomes an unlikely bastion of loyalty in House of Pleasures, an erotic feast about the uniquely intimate camaraderie that develops among the ladies of the luxurious French house L'Apollinde. Madam Marie-France provides a glamorous life for some of the most alluring and desirable women in Paris, but also treats them as virtual slaves. Among the dozen employees are a cheerful girl with a regular adoring john, a regal beauty who disdains all the men fighting for her services, a long-legged stunner reaching the end of her career, and a sweet and trusting new girl who winds up in bed with a very rough customer. From the director of the Pornographer, House of Pleasures both exposes the dangers of the sex trade and manages to show how trust can be earned in the most unlikely of places.