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By
WADE GOSSETT
Young and provincial, a
tough guy with a criminal past, Olivier (a young
and rough-looking Gérard Depardieu) comes to Paris
to work as a landscape gardener. In no time at all
he's trying his hand at burglary with an old pal.
But before he can actually steal anything, he
stumbles into Ariane's world.
Ariane (Bulle Ogier) seems slightly older, slight,
and far more refined and worldly. She inhabits a
two-story apartment: her home is on the top floor,
and her, well, business, is on the lower floor.
The two floors are connected by a secret
staircase. Ariane is a dedicated dominatrix, and
the lower floor is a veritable dungeon full of
sadomasochistic implements.
These two disparate people fall in love with each
other very quickly, and Olivier moves in with
Ariane. Initially, he seems fine with her
professional endeavors, even occasionally
participating at her request, without giving it
much thought. But he soon becomes jealous and
protective. Their relationship begins to change,
mirroring the power dynamic Ariane shares with her
clients.
As Barbet Schroeder reveals on a 2002 interview
included in this Criterion presentation, his 1976
film used a real dominatrix and her real slaves
for many of the dungeon scenes. The scenes are
powerful and quite clearly real. If you've never
seen a man's penis nailed to a wooden plank, this
is your chance. Yet the most disturbing scene has
nothing to do with the fantastical world of
sadomasochism. Instead it involves the truly
violent, very brutal slaughter of a horse
(although the consumption of horsemeat in France
has decreased recently, and it is now banned from
restaurants, the French do continue to eat it).
There's little point in trying to explain
"Maitresse." Despite the subject matter (with
which most people cannot identify, let alone
appreciate) and several of the shocking scenes, it
is not a difficult film. You can simply accept it
as a love story (with an improbable albeit happy
ending) or as a comedic documentary on the S&M
culture (which I think was Schroeder's principal
intention).
Presented in widescreen anamorphic format, this
new transfer features restored image and sound, as
well as improved subtitle translation (the latter
is a huge improvement over previous versions). The
interview with Schroeder concentrates mainly on
"Maitresse" and it is interspersed with stills
from the filming. |
