223 Maitresse

[milk114]

Maîtresse



A young provincial in search of adventure stumbles into the subterranean world of sadomasochism when he is implicated in a burglary of a Paris apartment. The apartment's mistress runs a two-floor operation, all respectability above and a dungeon of punishment-seeking clients below. After the young man becomes her upstairs lover, she finds that the two levels of her carefully controlled existence begin to interfere with each other. Barbet Schroeder's Maîtresse examines the line between fantasy and reality, decadence and deprivation, and the distance one will go for love.

Special Features

- New high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Barbet Schroeder with restored image and sound and enhanced for widescreen televisions
- Exclusive video interview with Barbet Schroeder
- New essay by film critic Elliott Stein
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[colinr0380]

Well... I found La Vallee for $5 used and figured, early Schroeder, HVE release, seems with it. Plan on watching it tomorrow night. I've seen and enjoyed Idi Amin Dada and that's about it of Schroeder's work so am looking forward to something completely different.

But my question is this: How does Matresse fit in Schroeder's work? How does it fit in Criterion's Collection? Who the hell is Schroeder such that he deserves the Criterion/HVE treatment?

I guess you could say its the first Gerard Depardieu and maybe representative of some of his young, wilder work (although I'd like some of his Bertrand Blier films like Les Valseuses released). It's also got Bulle Ogier in who makes an appearance in Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. It's also not the first Schroeder, General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait is number 153.

It does seem like it follows a theme in his work of obsessive, controlling characters not afraid of the use of violence when they are backed into a corner: Idi Amin even fits into this, but you have the masochism of this film, Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female, you could say all the characters are self-serving in Reversal of Fortune, Kiss of Death and Desperate Measures.

Plus who knows how many of the staff at Criterion have genital piercings? Come to think of it, what about the forum?

If we went through an airport scanner would we set the alarms off like in This Is Spinal Tap?

[Narshty]

Plus who knows how many of the staff at Criterion have genital piercings? Come to think of it, what about the forum?

If we went through an airport scanner would we set the alarms off like in This Is Spinal Tap?

Remember though, the nail did get wrenched out again, so it was only a temporary piercing.

[colinr0380]

True, but my legs were crossed all the same!

[nick]

True, but my legs were crossed all the same!

This part made me cringe worse than anything I've ever seen before.

[cdnchris]

My legs were crossed just from reading this thread!

[Ted Todorov]

I guess you could say its the first Gerard Depardieu and maybe representative of some of his young, wilder work (although I'd like some of his Bertrand Blier films like Les Valseuses released). It's also got Bulle Ogier in who makes an appearance in Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

Les Valseuses is out, with a very nice transfer from Anchor Bay. Not every DVD has to say "Criterion" on it. Bulle Ogier is especially known for her colaboration with Jacques Rivette -- she has been in several of his films.

Maitresse is certainly an interesting work, though clearly not for every taste -- it is especially notable for the way in which it mixes fantasy with reality by using actual "slaves" and their real life fetishes and having their real mistress on the set (and doubling for Ogier in some scenes).

[colinr0380]

I wasn't aware of the Anchor Bay releases. Perhaps thats the reason why Maitresse was released, Les Valseuses and Get Out Your Hankerchiefs were taken - although I think its a good film to have in the Collection as the first Depardieu in there! Must admit that I had not looked closely at the Anchor Bay schedule as I'd already got the Blier films on video, but it's great they are out.

[toiletduck!]

What a great surprise! I found Maitresse way cheap back in December, so I picked it up on a whim and just finally got around to watching it. The sexual and romantic power struggles on every level complement each other so well. From the unique relationship between Ariane and her customers to her and Olivier's endless power games up through Gautier's overbearing passivity. Simply watching the masquerading that Ariane goes through in the different areas of her life was fascinating. Kudos to Bulle, I say!

-Toilet Dcuk

[zedz]

I found the standard of the performances (especially Bulle - boy, did this make me resent the unavailability of all of those magnificent Rivettes - and The Third Generation - and a decent Irma Vep) much better than the material, but it's certainly an interesting film.

Schroeder has never struck me as a particularly great filmmaker, but I was very impressed by the speed and economy of the exposition in the first ten minutes of the film. In that short space of time he managed to cover what I'd assumed from plot synopses would constitute the first half of the film.

By the way, those guys with their legs crossed from this film (or its descriptions above) should steer WELL clear of Depardieu's near-simultaneous The Last Woman. Ouch!

[flyonthewall2983]

Watched this today, and was quite taken with the story and performances. I've made my kink no secret here, so suffice it to say I enjoyed the dungeon scenes on a level some people here probably won't. The interview with Barbet was quite good, too. All in all a good release. I Netflixed this one, but I could see purchasing it very soon.

[flyonthewall2983]

I shouldn't ask, but how did you respond to the scene of the guy nailing his dick to the plank?

Jealously! (kidding). Actually, I was surprised he took it so well. It obviously looks extremely painful, and is something I'd never want done myself. But I admire the devotion to his Mistress by doing it. I definitely had a more ghastly reaction to the slaughterhouse scene, though I understand why it was put in.

BTW, he didn't do it himself. Sure it was just a typo on your part, but just need to clarify that.

[colinr0380]

BTW, he didn't do it himself. Sure it was just a typo on your part, but just need to clarify that.

Perhaps david hare was thinking of Bob Flanagan?

[flyonthewall2983]

The documentary on him is available to watch online on Netflix. Even I couldn't make it past 5 minutes of it.

[flyonthewall2983]

Someone should probably tell the webmaster for the Criterion site that the movie came out in 76, not 73.

[flyonthewall2983]

Chair designed from one used in the film. Not exactly NSFW, but close enough. Another Criterion first.

[Gregory]

Why is this not sold at Amazon? I tried searching for it about three different ways. Taking into account that this is the US, I'm wondering if there were complaints about "obscenity" but I don't want to jump to conclusions.

[dwk]

Why is this not sold at Amazon? I tried searching for it about three different ways. Taking into account that this is the US, I'm wondering if there were complaints about "obscenity" but I don't want to jump to conclusions.

You are right. It must have been deleted from Amazon when they went on a rampage deleting DVDs/Blu-rays from smaller companies like Blue Underground's Salon Kitty and Synapse's Nikkatsu Roman Porno trailer compilation.

Amazon still sells In the Realm of the Senses, so these deletions seem to be related to titles & cover art.

[flyonthewall2983]

BFI UK release Blu-ray with new features. Hopefully this means a new transfer, and maybe even a new Blu from the CC porting over said features.

[Professor Wagstaff]

Does this title sell well enough that Criterion might upgrade? This always seemed like a fringe movie of the collection that rarely gets stocked at places like Barnes and Noble. There is also the longstanding issue with Amazon never carrying it for reasons that remain unclear (at this time a few sellers have listings up).

I'm a fan of the movie as well, but even my initial interest came from my inability to ever find the title in stores.

[MichaelB]

BFI UK release Blu-ray with new features. Hopefully this means a new transfer, and maybe even a new Blu from the CC porting over said features.

It is a new transfer - or at least newish: it was created a couple of years ago at the same time as More and La Vallée (also released by the BFI as dual-format editions) under Barbet Schroeder's supervision. I suspect the release of Maîtresse was held back so they could release it in tandem with the BFI Southbank censorship season to mark the BBFC's centenary (it was a big censorship cause célèbre in the 1970s, though the new edition is completely uncut).

Unfortunately (for those outside Europe), it's definitely Region B - I've just checked.

[flyonthewall2983]

Here's the Blu-ray.com review of the UK disc.

[RainingToday]

Recently acquired this little gem and upon initial viewing noticed the standout of Schroeder's script as it deals with the explicit and illicit nature of his material while Nestor Almendros' cinematography juxtaposes love and control. While light on supplements I find it completely within the bounds of being included in the CC canon as it served as an accessible starting point for the early works of Gerard Depardieu on home video in the US as well as an introduction to a film previously relegated more to talk and here-say than actual viewing in most of the film watching public.

[knives]

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was impressed with how relaxed the depiction of BDSM was. I think it really highlights Schroeder’s strengths as a documentarian as the story itself is fairly typical and expected, but his simple interest in the nitty gritty lives of his leads improves the film tremendously.

[Tommaso]

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was impressed with how relaxed the depiction of BDSM was.

What exactly do you mean by 'relaxed'? Do you think he treated it as something entirely 'everyday', something that some people like to do, and so there's nothing to make much of a fuss about? I would agree with such a stance, but given the film was made in the 1970s it would have had much more of a taboo-breaking impact than it has nowadays, I guess. Do you have in mind that Schroeder depicts BDSM entirely as 'matter of fact', without using it in any way as a provocation or even titillation for the viewer?

The latter is one of the few criticisms I have about the Robbe-Grillet films in the BFI set. Good as they are, almost each one of them is somewhat marred by the unmotivated - in the sense of: narratively rather unnecessary or at least not well integrated into the narrative - depiction of what was obviously one of Robbe-Grillet's favourite pastimes. By contrast, the way Schroeder integrates the (few) BDSM scenes in "Maitresse" made absolute sense to me, as they simply serve the story and the characterisations.