MAITRESSE

(Maitresse - French for Mistress)

This French film from the 70's is well worth a watch.

Since the French are far less squeamish about sex and kink in their films Maitresse lacks the cloying morality and censurious tentativeness of North American film-making.

A thief (played by a young and surprisingly buff and sexy Gerard Depardieu) gets more than he bargains for when he breaks into a house only to find the owner is a pro-dominitrix.

Fascinated by her as much as by her dungeon he becomes persistent in his attentions, and the resulting dysfunctional relationship takes them both on an intriguing, often obsessive journey.

Don't expect to see safe scenes of bondage or humiliation in this film. It's raw and unrealistic in terms of today's Safe, Sane, and Consensual dogma. But for anyone willing to put aside political correctness in favour of art and entertainment, Maitresse is a memorable and evocative film.

Depardieu plays his part as a rough and unsophisticated man who is quite in over his head. The director eschews the North American protocol of making the hero of the film upright and completely likable. Depardieu is real, not a storybook character. Love will not conquer all, nor do the characters really even believe it will. They are driven by deep desires and motivations they only partly understand; in essence, human above all else.

Pro-domme Ariane (played in delightful Emma Peel fashion by actress Bulle Olgier) is not looking for a saviour; she’s just trying to survive the best way she knows how. No damsel in distress, but no superwoman either. She’s not even sure she wants what Olivier (Depardieu) hopes to give her…freedom from a life he views as simple prostitution.

The dungeon is mouth-wateringly sinister, Olgier’s fetish outfits are straight out of the fantasies of most men. This film is not candy, but it can certainly be sweet on the eyes.

Watch it for Depardieu's once amazing body if nothing else.

Maitresse's imbd site.