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List Price: $29.95Amazon.com's Price: $17.99 You Save: $11.96 (40%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: X (Mature Audiences Only)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780780027831
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0780027833
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: February 03, 2004
Running Time: 112 minutes
Sales Rank: 33430
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: 1976
Editorial Review:
Description:
When he is implicated in the burglary of a Paris apartment, a young provincial (Gérard Depardieu) stumbles into the subterranean world of sadomasochism, becoming the upstairs lover of the apartment's mistress, who then finds the two levels of her carefully controlled existence beginning to interfere with each other. Barbet Schroeder's film examines the line between fantasy and reality, decadence and deprivation, and the distance one will go for love. The DVD also features a new interview with the director.
Amazon.com:
Drifter Olivier (Gérard Depardieu) lands in Paris and partners up on a friend's home invasion. Ostensibly they're breaking into the vacant flat of a vacationing old lady, but in reality it's the kinky dungeon of a high-class dominatrix with a powerful client list. The bearish Depardieu falls for the lithe professional, blonde Ariane (Bulle Ogier) in a black bob wig and dressed in tight leather and latex, and soon moves into her handsome flat while she plies her trade downstairs. Barbet Schroeder's kinky little slice of sexual decadence is initially titillating and erotic, but soon turns grotesque. Ariane's clients desire her domination but only as contracted: They control their abuse. The romance becomes a warped mirror of her career, Ariane allowing Olivier the appearance of control as he slides behind the driver's seat of her car, but setting the parameters of his dominance. Easygoing Olivier soon begins to simmer with frustration and jealousy, unable to comprehend her twisted world of sexual deviance, and attempts to 'save' her from her lifestyle. Schroeder pushes the portrayal of S&M and bondage to the limits with graphic scenes of pain, torment, and mutilation, presented with a bland detachment that makes them all the more uncomfortable to watch. He brings that same dispassionate attitude to the romance, which results in an uninvolving yet undeniably fascinating story of a quirky affair. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Maîtresse: A Painful Lesson in Sexual Politics.
Barbet Schroeder's name is synonymous with More (1969) and La Vallee (1972), both of which featured Pink Floyd soundtracks, and Barfly (1987), starring Mickey Rourke. Set in Paris, Maîtresse, tells the unconventional love story of a petty thief, Olivier (Gérard Depardieu), who falls in love with his charming next-door neighbor, Ariane (Bulle Ogier), after discovering that she happens to be a professional dominatrix with her very own subterranean torture chamber filled with sex toys and torture ... Read More
Rating:  - Worth watching, but...
Gerard Depardieu's effortless acting is phenomenal, a real pleasure to watch from frame to frame. He really draws you into the character. Reviewers who say it's unwatchable or boring are wrong. It is an engaging, well paced and often humorous art film. To me the violence serves as punctuation marks to a love story, rather than the point of it all, so viewers drawn in by the S&M premise who were hoping for profound commentary about a subculture should save their time and money. Although the ... Read More
Rating: - Good film, but...
Draggy in spots. Sometimes it can be hard to take Depardieu seriously as well, but when the film is engaging, it really rivets the attention, taking a look at its subject matter without venturing into prurientism.
Rating:  - Save your money
I bought this DVD based on the excellent reviews. As both an afficionado, and practitioner of kink, I am always looking for a good film in that genre. Not only is "Maitresse" poorly acted but the story line is completely unbelievable.
I also found the film "quality" leaving a lot to be desired. (Poor lighting) I found myself falling asleep about a third of the way through and just could not get into it.
The relationship and communication between the Domme and her clients ... Read More
Rating: - Chamber of Commerce
"Maitresse" may beat upon every body around, but you can't say that Barbet Schroder beats about the bush. The director shows us torture, sadomasochism and sexual humiliation or, if you prefer, the business end of a whip. Many whips are used in this 1973 movie, now a sort of cult classic; The Criterion Collection DVD looks terrific and has a new interview with Schroeder that doesn't pretend to any depth. Almost against our will (perfect!), the movie draws us into its kinky extremities only eventually to ... Read More
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