Das Haus der Schlafenden Schönen (House of the Sleeping Beauties) (2008)
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28% of critics liked it
(18 reviews) -
24% of users liked it
(156 ratings)
Director Vadim Glowna explores such complicated issues as loneliness, guilt, remembrance, mourning, sex, death, and dying in this adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's novel concerning a most unusual bordello catering to a most unlikely clientele. Edmond is a lonely man in his late sixties. On the… More Director Vadim Glowna explores such complicated issues as loneliness, guilt, remembrance, mourning, sex, death, and dying in this adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's novel concerning a most unusual bordello catering to a most unlikely clientele. Edmond is a lonely man in his late sixties. On the advice of his older friend Kogi, Edmond visits a bordello that allows elderly men the rare opportunity to lie down beside beautiful, youthful women. The girls are narcotized before each session, ensuring that they never awaken to actually meet the clients. Presiding over this mysterious establishment is the 60-year-old Madame, a woman who assumes the caring role of mother to both the girls and the men who come to be with them. Each time Edmond lies down next to one of the girls, memories of his previous life come flooding back. Edmond wants nothing more than to disappear silently into death while basking in the glorious perfection of youth. One night, by chance, Edmond observes Madame and her helpers disposing of a corpse. But while Edmond becomes morally conflicted about what he has seen, he cannot stop himself from returning to the bordello. When Edmond begins questioning Madame about the incident, the mystery only seems to deepen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Vadim Glowna
- Written By
- Vadim Glowna, Yasunari Kawabata
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Nov 14, 2008 Limited
- Studio
- First Run Features
Critic Reviews
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J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Glowna presents this smoky German feature as an elegy for lost youth, but it's so tumescent with male self-pity that I couldn't wait for it to end.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Do you find this premise anything but repugnant? It offends not only civilized members of both sexes, but even dirty old men, dramatizing as it does their dirtiness and oldness.
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V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Sure, there's copious full-frontal female nudity and an aroused male body part, but such scenes are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. There's a subtle difference, but still a difference.
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Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Based on an acclaimed novella by Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata, the film is one of those self-consciously atmospheric literary adaptations that suffer from a surfeit of symbolism and pretentiousness.
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Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Not even the august presence of Maximilian Schell can dispel the odor of fusty smut that clings to House of the Sleeping Beauties.
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Cast
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Vadim Glowna
as Edmond
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Angela Winkler
as Madame
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Maximilian Schell
as Kogi
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Birol ??nel
as Mister Gold
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Mona Glass
as Secretary
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Marina Weiss
as Maid
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Benjamin Cabuk
as Balladeer
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Peter Luppa
as Priest
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Jacqueline Le Saunier
as Sleeping Beauty
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Maria Burghard
as Sleeping Beauty
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Babet Mader
as Sleeping Beauty
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Linda Elsner
as Sleeping Beauty
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Sarah Swenshon
as Sleeping Beauty
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Isabelle Wackers
as Sleeping Beauty
- Birol Ünel
