Madame Claude (2021)

Directed by Sylvie Verheyde. Starring Karole Rocher, Garance Marillier, Pierre Deladonchamps, Roschidy Zem, Hafsia Herzi, Liah O’Prey, Paul Hamy, Joséphine de La Baume, Mylène Jampanoï, Annabelle Belmondo, Djanis Bouzyani.

Perfunctory, emotionally-disengaged biographical drama of the notorious French madame (Rocher) who ran a stable of call girls in Paris during the swinging 60s and excessive 70s. A swirl of disjointed storytelling, cutting conversation, surface sheen, and chilly indifference; the lack of a strong character/narrative hook keeps the viewer at arm’s length, a mere witness to the bored decadence, mechanical eroticism, and poker-faced criminal ambition that doesn’t lead to a satisfying payoff. Filmed like a series of arty photoshoots—even the ruthless skin-shows, replete with frequent closeups of the ladies’ disconsolate expressions, are framed and focused for glamour—but it’s all edited into a long series of terse, brittle episodes that require too much effort to track a running narrative, isolate its themes, or keep track of the characters that mostly just blur together. Rocher and Marillier (an anomalous prostitute-slash-protégé) do what they can within the limited dimensions of their roles, inscrutable self-servers who don’t inspire much in the way of empathy or understanding. Largely unsung but era-appropriate tunes on the soundtrack from the likes of Françoise Hardy, the Troggs, and the Tyrannies are a plus.

57/100