Movie Review by Nigel A. Messenger
Starring: Corinne Clery, Udo Kier, Anthony Steel, Jean Gavin
Director: Just Jaeckin
A seventies classic, this is the story of a young woman ‘O’ who is so I love with her husband she will do or submit to anything he wants, including fulfilling his sexual desires to see her used and abused by others. She is introduced to a house of slaves and masters and a circle of people who give themselves totally to this extreme way of life.
She willingly submits to every situation including being tied naked and whipped on numerous occasions. She also is willingly “forced” into having sex with complete strangers and into lesbian sex also using this as a method of seduction to recruit another young woman into their lifestyle when ordered to do so by her master.
THE STORY OF O of course, has been banned for the past 25 years in the UK by the BBFC (the UK film censor) which is horrified by anything to do with bondage and S & M, or even until recently most sex or nudity if shot in a gratuitous way, and it’s only now towards the end of year 2000 that the censor has finally relaxed its rules. Even so, it’s probably only because the young woman ‘O’ is frequently asked if she consents willingly to the bondage and S & M and because the film is regarded somewhat as a cinematic classic, that it has now been passed for UK release.
Controversy aside, as for the film itself it’s fascinating to finally see what all the fuss was about. There is no explicit hardcore sex so if that’s what you want you’ll be disappointed, but ‘O’ (Corinne Clery) is very pretty and the acting although not outstanding is acceptable, in fact Corinne Clery’s acting is very good in it’s context. The fact that there is no explicit penetration probably won’t deter those who are into S & M however as the mental control over ‘O’ is also part of their particular sexual quirk and this is portrayed heavily throughout the film.
Buy this movie if you are into this kind of thing, if you’re curious as to know what the BBFC have been fussing about for all these years, or if you just want to see a sexual cinema classic with a very pretty Corinne Clery.
