Histoire d'O (1975)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Just Jaeckin

Writers:

Dominique Aury (novel)
Sébastien Japrisot (writer)

Release Date:

14 November 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The Masterpiece of Bizarre Love That Stormed France. A Portrait of Love and Submission to Disorder the Senses

Plot:

The beautiful O is taken by her boyfriend, Rene, to a bizarre retreat, where she is trained in bondage and sexual perversion...

Plot Keywords:

Sexual Perversion | Perversion | Bondage | Branding | Punishment

Cast

Corinne Clery	...	O
Udo Kier	...	Rene
Anthony Steel	...	Sir Stephen
Jean Gaven	...	Pierre
Christiane Minazzoli	...	Anne-Marie
Martine Kelly	...	Therese
Jean-Pierre Andréani	...	Eric, master II
Gabriel Cattand	...	The commander
Li Sellgren	...	Jacqueline (a model)
Albane Navizet	...	Andree
Nadine Perles	...	Jeanne
Laure Moutoussamy	...	Norah, the maid
Henri Piégay	...	Master I
Alain Noury	...	Ivan
Florence Cayrol	...	Yvonne (as Jehanne Blaise)

Also Known As:

Die Geschichte der O (West Germany)
The Story of O (USA)

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality.

Runtime:

Australia:105 min (2000 uncut re-release) | USA:97 min

Country:

France | West Germany | Canada

Language:

French | English | Polish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:(Banned) (1978-2003) (cinema release) | Australia:R | Canada:R | Denmark:16 | Finland:(Banned) | Netherlands:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 | USA:X (original rating) | West Germany:18 | Norway:18 (video) (1987) | New Zealand:(Banned) (1978-2003) (cinema release)

Company:

A.D. Creation

Trivia:

Was originally to be directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky and produced by Alan Klien. (Klien had funded Jodorowsky's two previous pictures El topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973)) However, Alejandro bailed on the film leaving Alan with the problem of finding a replacement, which he never did. After much trouble with trying to get it off the ground, Klien sold the rights. However, the ordeal spawned a 30 year feud with Jodorowsky and resulted in Klien withholding the rights to El Topo and The Holy Mountain, blocking them from being distributed. The feud was finally settled in 2005.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "X-Rated" (2004)

Like Emmanuelle this French movie was critically controversial…

"Story of O" is luxuriant, nicely photographed, and Corinne Clery is quite appealing as a sensual actress…

The film is an adaptation of Pauline Reage's novel about a young girl called O and her entry into the art of loving… The special philosophy here is that women, by nature, are inferior to men and should therefore submit to their every emotion and desire. This is the only way for a woman to find ecstasy…

O falls in love with a practitioner of this doctrine, and is forced to go through quite a lot before he will take her in…

The treatment of eroticism is slow and careful… O is initiated into a house of bondage where the women are playthings for the male clientele… No talking or complaining is permitted... If the rules are broken, they are "punished" in the collar with whips and chains...

One can call this film a lot of things, but "subtle" isn't one of them… Still, it's not overly offensive either, despite its extremely one-sided view of femininity... It does have a seductive quality, and we are attracted into its exotic fact or assumption largely because of Corinne Clery's beauty and sensuality…