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House of the Sleeping Beauties

Play trailer Poster for House of the Sleeping Beauties Released Nov 14, 2008 1h 39m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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28% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 17% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
An elderly man (Vadim Glowna) visits an unusual brothel where patrons derive comfort and warmth by sleeping next to tranquilized women.
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House of the Sleeping Beauties

Critics Reviews

View All (18) Critics Reviews
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. Jan 30, 2009 Full Review 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. Rated: 1/4 Jan 8, 2009 Full Review 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. Rated: 3/4 Nov 14, 2008 Full Review Stan Hall Oregonian Most bad movies are simply forgettable. But some bad movies are so amazingly wrong that you feel compelled to gawk at them. Jan 30, 2009 Full Review Robert Koehler Christian Science Monitor With the mounting number of first-rate foreign-language films locked out of movie theaters due to wary distributors, it's worth pondering why such laughable dreck as German director Vadim Glowna's House of the Sleeping Beauties actually made it through. Rated: D Nov 21, 2008 Full Review David Noh Film Journal International It's easy to feel as drowsy as any of the titular ladies while watching this misogynistic, soporific contemplation of old age, mortality and T&A. Nov 14, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This was a film I could not stop watching. It intrigued me. Edmond pulled me into his world. I felt for him and his lonely sadness. His reflections of his past and his unresolved grief over the loss of his family. The premise is peculiar but interesting. I am sure on some level this would be considered a perverted sense of sensuality but it didn't feel "dirty" to me. It felt like a man in the winter of his life trying to find a reason to live and grasping at the youth of these girls and their agreement to participate in such an odd business. If you are looking for something different and don't mind reading subtitles, this is worth a watch. It will definitely stimulate conversation afterward. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member A very sensual film that explores loneliness and innocence, and does so in a very low-key, almost mystical way. The main character, Edmond (Vadim Glowna, who also directed), carries most of the action and the dialog, delivering soliloquies that evoke his pain at losing his wife and daughter some 15 years before, a loss he still has not been able to move beyond. Angela Winkler is the Madame of this strange establishment, and one is never sure of her actions or her motives. Is she what she seems, or is she hiding something darker? Kogi, (Maxmillian Schell) is Edmond's friend, who counsels him and who introduces him to this world and seems to have questionable motives. This is a quiet film, beautifully shot, and the interplay between the characters is subtle and leaves one with numerous possible interpretations. Not for everyone, but a very thought provoking film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member (*): Thumbs Down Slow, boring, and not at all erotic. At the end of it all, I had to ask myself: What was the point to this? I don't think I will ever truly know (or care). Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member I mostly appreciate this movie on the basis that there really was no real progess made with the plot and the only thing resembling a resolution was the death of the main character. Granted, I understand that the point of the movie (and I suppose the book as well, although I've never read it) revolved around the idea of youth and innocence vs. the old and weary, but if it wasn't for the tits this movie would be nothing but and hour and thirty-nine minutes of an old man's repetitive ramblings about how old he is. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Erotic, yes, but also beautiful & so very sad. Some gorgeous night shots of Berlin as well. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member The Japanese to German cultural translation felt very awkward, but the story is a compelling one, and Angela Winkler is perfect as Madame. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
House of the Sleeping Beauties

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Cast & Crew

Winged Creatures 45% 29% Winged Creatures Watchlist Downtown: A Street Tale 27% % Downtown: A Street Tale Watchlist Sleeping Beauty 48% 32% Sleeping Beauty Watchlist Felon 60% 82% Felon Watchlist Aleksandra 88% 69% Aleksandra Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis An elderly man (Vadim Glowna) visits an unusual brothel where patrons derive comfort and warmth by sleeping next to tranquilized women.
Director
Vadim Glowna
Producer
Vadim Glowna, Raymond Tarabay
Screenwriter
Vadim Glowna
Distributor
First Run
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 14, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 15, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.5K
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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