Maitresse [1976] [DVD]

Vintage early Depardieu. Beatings etc were real, not acted.

very nice

o.k

The quality of the product and delivery were excellent. Not so mad about the movie itself....

Three stars for the film but an extra star for Depardieu's screen dynamism. It's a key film in his early career and his naturalism and vitality burns even brighter against the cold and unemotional doll's house that his character blunders into, and which he will eventually overturn. The early scenes immediately establish this virile force of nature as he moves from the healthy realism and colour of the French countryside into the darker world of Paris, its artificialities, and the dreams and fantasies of its exotic denizens. For Depardieu fans it's interesting to compare the shots of him on the motorbike with those in the much later film Mammuth (2010). His social status here is signified by the sight of his bulk on a machine that is clearly too small for him and comically underpowered. This man-child is the opposite of the sophisticated Parisian haut-monde in which he soon finds himself.The apartment where most of the scenes will take place at first appears almost an empty building; a closed world shuttered off from the outside. We soon learn that it is a place of entrapment; claustrophobic, lifeless, airless and stale. Strange fish swim in its deep waters where the light never penetrates. The only reminder of the outside world is a small balcony window but the camera remains trapped within and never peers outside its frame to the Paris streets and rooftops. At one point Bulle Ogier's character, Ariane, almost frees herself from her artificial existence through this window, establishing early on that for all her self-control and power over her clients, she is unhappy and unfulfilled. In another scene, in an attack of panic, she feels her constriction, and gasping for air, escapes up the mechanical folding staircase that leads away from the dark and up to the daylight. The staircase is itself almost as much a fetishistic device as the torture devices of her profession, and Ariane is as much a prisoner as her clients; perhaps even more so, for they have other (real) lives to go back to, through a discreet side door that leads on to the street and the easy transition back to normality.This is the crepuscular world into which Depardieu's character Olivier stumbles, like he has just fallen through the scenery, and why Ariane is immediately attracted to this innocent life-force. He is everything that she doesn't have, but longs for, even if she doesn't quite know it herself. She is the maiden trapped in her tower and he rides in on his steed to rescue her. At first he becomes embroiled in her world of sexual fantasy and loveless power games but his gauche lack of sophistication and his emotional directness cannot adapt to this theatre of perversion; he cannot learn his lines and act the part. To liberate Ariane, emotionally and physically, Olivier has to break the bonds that enslave her.The final revivifying scenes are a celebration of natural unfettered sex, a joyous fresh air ride through the forest in Ariane's beautiful motorcar, top down with the wind in their faces. As Olivier takes her to the country she is free at last and her life of pretence behind her. In their exuberant and unrestrained passion they crash the car, the last fetishistic symbol of the past. We are left to wonder for a few anxious moments whether they survive, but in a last lingering shot they stumble unhurt into the forest like Hansel and Gretel - at last two children of nature.Whilst Ogier is never perhaps quite convincing as the dominatrix; it is her vulnerability and innocence, suggested right from her very first appearance in the appartment, which is beautifully realised in this last scene. It is a performance that can be overlooked next to the dynamo that is Depardieu in an early key role. If the film ultimately leaves you a bit cold, then just admire this screen legend in all his youthful swagger and glory.

I was really dissapointed with this film,like most things could have been so much better given the source material,i feel cheated

Judging by the comments previously made it may be I’m a bit naïve.I found this film to be very erotic, even more so than most of the usual hard-core easily found on the net. I thought Bulle Ogier was fascinating and really sexy.

70s french art house . Proberbly more for film fans than for s m devotees. Bulle Ogier isnt particularlly dominant and I think they should have taught her to yield the whip in a more convincing manner . She is more liitle girl at play than scary woman . She does wear lovely fetish clothes though . Depardieu as always is great . The story may be a little thin and the ending very incomplete but I still found this a most entertaining movie . Apparently shot in a real dungeon and using actual punters as the submissive masked men .

This was a groundbreaking film when it first came out. Was it pornographic or a realistic depiction of professional BDSM buried in a French art house film with the usual French/Italian ending that leaves you scratching your head. It's up to the beholder. Slightly naive and stilted by today's cinematography standards but everyone watching it with me thought it was still somewhat relevant and entertaining. One or two heavy scenes may be too much for the vanilla folks in the audience. The blu ray visual and audio restoration shown on my home theater was as clean or better than, as I remember it, the original projected film.

Realmente supone una maravilla para los adeptos a este film de Barbet Schroeder disponer de esta DOBLE EDICIÓN DVD y BLURAY de Maitresse con extras de más de 30 minutos y un Inglés para sordomudos clásico de las ediciones de BFI que ayuda para los españoles que entendemos pero nos va bien el soporte escrito de los diálogos.Si te gusta el film, no hay mejor edición, que yo sepa.

UN TRES GRAND FILM, UN TRES GRAND CLASSIQUE DU METTEUR EN SCENE BARBET SCHROEDER AVEC BULLE OGIER ET GERARD DEPARDIEU (DEBUTANT), SUR L'UNIVERS SOMBRE ET FASCINANT DU SADO-MASOCHISME.

Un film con una storia controversa che induce a riflettere sull'amore vero intriso di passione e sulle pratiche sadomasochistiche. Penso che per l'epoca in cui è stato girato intendessero gli autori creare scandalo od evento.

bulle ogier und gerrad depardieue spielen da ein spannendes paar,einen doninanten hauch ist in diesem film auch zuverspühren,sonst ganz ordentlich.