Bertrand Bonello’s commenced shooting on his fifth feature film yesterday, pulling in a pool of Euro actresses in Adèle Haenel, Jasmine Trinca, Hafsia Herzi, Noémie Lvovsky and Céline Sallette for what should be one more controversial film add to his filmography which already includes The Pornographer (2001) and Tiresia (2003). Shooting near Paris for a two month period, written by Bonello, L’apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close) takes place at the dawn of the 20th Century in a Parisian brothel, a prostitute is disfigured for life by a client. Scarred with a tragic smile across her face. Around this “laughing woman” are the lives, rivalries, fears, joys and pains of the other girls…. None knows a thing about the outside world: it is a “closed house”.
Look for this to be an item of high interest on the Croisette next year, Bonello is a Cannes regular and was last there with his 2008 film, On War. Les Films du Lendemain’s Kristina Larsen and Bonello’s My New Picture are producing the film with co-production support from Arte France Cinéma, the National Film and Moving Image Centre (CNC) and television and regional backing.
