Nana
“The True Key of Pleasure”
In Zola's Paris, an ingenue arrives at a tony bordello: she's Nana, guileless, but quickly learning to use her erotic innocence to get what she wants. She's an actress for a soft-core filmmaker and soon is the most popular courtesan in Paris, parlaying this into a house, bought for her by a wealthy banker. She tosses him and takes up with her neighbor, a count of impeccable rectitude, and with the count's impressionable son. The count is soon fetching sticks like a dog and mortgaging his lands to satisfy her whims.
A decadent, yet melancholic, journey through Parisian high society. Nana's ascent is a sharp, witty exploration of ambition and desire, wrapped in a sensual, period-piece aesthetic. It feels like watching a beautiful, dangerous game unfold.
