Histoire d'O (1975)

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:

The role of O was originally offered to Anulka Dziubinska though she declined on the advice of her agent.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Tod eines Weltstars (1994) (TV)

oddity

Just Jaeckin's film version of the celebrated novel by Pauline Reage manages to completely miss the point of her work (by changing the ending, specifically), but taken purely as a movie has a certain amount of interest.

Corrine Clery plays 'O', a photographer who is taken by her boyfriend Rene (Udo Kier) to a sado-masochistic den where she willingly submits to physical and sexual abuse. 'O's motivation was much more obvious within the novel, but here it is secondary to the titallating spectacle of soft porn. Clery is not really the ideal 'O', either, her looks being too idealistic and her acting just too bad.

After a spell in the academy which serves to turn her into a total submissive she is practically sold on to Sir Stephen (50s pin-up Anthony Steel, of all people!) who is even more depraved and dominating than anyone else she has met. Perhaps the strongest sections of the film concern 'O's relationship with Sir S, but I wasn't convinced by the changed ending (powerful though it was from a movie standpoint). The cinematography is also attractive, particularly in its use of colour, and the French language version adds a certain mystique to the story.