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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Upstairs - Downstairs Mistress..., February 3, 2004
Gérard Depardieu as Olivier enters an apartment in order to rob the place, but unknowingly breaks into a haven for sadomasochistic fantasies. During the burglary he encounters Ariane (Bulle Ogier) who he had met earlier, but this time she is a dominatrix who controls situations as she dives into other people's madness. Ariane is an interesting character that separates her life and her profession as skillfully as do her slaves who consist of lawyers, judges, and other high ranked individuals who seek punishment from her. Her cruel punishment is well molded after her "slave's" desires which consists of all forms of torture and degradation. Olivier is spellbound by Ariane as he falls in love with her, and it leads him into a scorching affair where he is bound to be burnt as he is mystified by Ariane's dark trade. Schroeder's creation of Ariane's dual nature can be seen through her use of a downstairs apartment for her dark fantasies and her upstairs apartment for more accepted desires. In addition, it can also be observed symbolically that the two sides coexists and never are entirely separated as Ariane brings her make-up, clothes, and feelings back upstairs. Maîtresse is an avant-garde film as it explores in-depth the theme of sadomasochistic fantasies and its sub-culture as set in a love story. As a cinematic experience, Maîtresse offers a shocking, for the unaware, experience that tells an intriguing story which imprisons the curiosity.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
curiosity, October 15, 2000
This film written and directed by Barbet Schroeder is unusual since it presents a world of sadomasochist sex play without any hint of eroticism or exploitation. There is more violence in the faux-Helmut Newton portraits in The Eyes of Laura Mars. A slim and beautiful Gerard Depardieu meets dominatrix Bulle Ogier by chance and begins an affair with her. The parallel between the roles she plays with customers who have dictated the terms of their pleasure, and her relationship with Gerard doesn't quite come off. It's about the same as when Schroeder shows us the slaughter of a horse. Depardieu has told us he used to work in a slaughterhouse and when he happens across one in a drunken stupour, the horror of the killing of the animal can't be equated with Bulle piercing a man's chest and penis. The only similarity is in the same matter-of-fact way Schroeder displays both images. When Bulle has a semi-breakdown midway in the film, my interest was peaked since this showed narrative promise. If enacting these roles had a psychological effect on her, that would reveal more to her character than she has allowed us to see. Bulle comments that she likes the play because it allows her into the intimacy of some people's "madness", she keeps a venus fly trap plant, and has a doberman called Texas. Unfortunately Schroeder has Bulle quickly recover and she returns to her job, thereby reducing her character to a cypher. Therefore Depardieu is the one left to respond. Observing the paraphernalia of s/m can only have a surface interest before you either want to experience the sensation, or you get bored, and it is disappointing that the narrative only extends to his wanting to discover the identity of Bulle's "pimp" as a matter of "control". When he threatens to make love to her in front of her clients, Schroeder cuts away. The ending is particularly frustrating since Schroeder pulls away from a Postman Always Rings Twice tragedy for a pointless gag. However he only uses music in certain contexts - eg in the roleplay scenes for comic effect. Otherwise the soundtrack is silent, to reinforce his almost documentary eye to the subject. He would later bring this clean approach to more commercial titles like Reversal of Fortune, but with greater effect.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Chamber of Commerce, July 18, 2005
"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 lose its way. Among the digressions is a horrific slaughterhouse scene, in which a horse is butchered and eaten, that belongs in another movie entirely. Bulle Ogler is seen as a blonde beauty in an upscale apartment who earns a lush living as a dominatrix in a downstairs dungeon designed by the Marquis de Sade. Her clients are rich and powerful and so, apparently, is she. That is what attracts a witless would-be burglar who becomes (in turn) her job assistant, live-in lover-protector, and soon an interfering opportunist who definitely is bad for business. He is played by a young Gerard Depardieu, a husky hunk even then. Europeans know how to treat these characters and subjects seriously and with a straight face. There's that to recommend it. There's also a scene in which the "maitresse" (mistress) nails a man's genitals to a block of wood. All in a day's work over there in Paris, France.
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