Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #71. Madame Claude – Sylvie Verheyde

Madame Claude

Director Sylvie Verheyde returns to the world of the sex worker in her sixth feature, Madame Claude, a Parisian period piece about a 1960s brothel madame. Reuniting with Karole Rocher (a Cesar nominee for 2011’s Polisse, who previously appeared in Verheyde’s 2012 Confessions of a Child of the Century as well as her 2016 title Sex Doll) as the lead, Verheyde rounds out a supporting cast featuring Roschdy Zem, Garance Marillier, Benjamin Biolay, Pierre Deladonchamps, Josephine de la Baume, plus two more Sex Doll cast members, Hafsia Herzi and Paul Hamy. Produced by Florence Gastaud, the title is notably lensed by Leo Hinstin (the DP on Bonello’s 2016 title Nocturama). Verheyde’s most far-reaching title to date has been 2012’s Confessions of a Child of the Century, which featured Peter Doherty and Charlotte Gainsbourg, premiering out of Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Gist: Co-written by Verheyde and Patrick Rocher, Madame Claude reinvents the codes of prostitution in her thriving brothel of late 1960s Paris. But a world on the verge of transition is assisted by her introduction to Sidonie, (Marillier) who takes the shape of Madame Claude’s alter ego.

Release Date/Prediction: Verheyde wrapped her seven week shoot at the end of June, 2019. A return to Cannes 2020, perhaps once again in Un Certain Regard, could be likely for the director.