Maverick French director Barbet Schroeder shocked and delighted arthouse audiences back in the 1970s with this notorious adult’s only movie, starring Bulle Ogier as Ariane, a sexually dominating maîtresse (French for mistress). Clad in kinky Karl Lagerfield-designed leathers, Ariane 'entertains' her clients in a neon-lit black marble Parisian dungeon. But when a thief (played by a younger, and much thinner, Gérard Depardieu) breaks in, Araine’s liberating views forces the young man to question his own sexual identity.
With its graphic S&M scenes, Maîtresse (1976) was originally censored on its release, but is now presented uncut for the first time in a new BFI dual format release (5 November). Funny, rude and very French, Schroeder’s fourth feature is well worth taking a walk on the wild side for, while the special features include not only a pristine HD transfer, but also a featurette on the film’s sexual themes and an illustrated booklet.
Maîtresse is also screening at the BFI Southbank in London on Friday 16 November and Sunday 18 November as part of it’s Uncut! season.
Marking the centenary of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in 2012, Uncut! addresses the changing attitudes of Britain’s censors and classifiers and features a number of key films that the BBFC has censored or banned outright, including Michael Winterbottom’s disturbing The Killer Inside Me and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which was cut for family audiences. Uncut! runs throughout November. Tickets are available now from the BFI website (click here for details).
