Histoire d'O (The Story of O, uncut version) [Italian import, region 2 PAL format]

The Story Of O to me is one of the most tasteful and erotic films addressing domination, bondage, and true surrender that I have ever had the privlidge to view. This film not only gave me insite into another lifestyle but also to another world. If you really think about it we are all dominated by something and this film captures the domination and submission of true love. In my opinion the true message of this film is total trust. I know from personal expierience that trust is the basis of all relationships including O's. O completely gave not only her trust but herself. Is this not what happens in a marriage? It may be comparing apples to oranges but when one marries do you not give yourself completely to your spouse? O herself gave body, mind, and soul without saying vows because it was an issue of totaly putting her trust in another and in the stregnth of their relationship. This movie awakend desires in myself and I am greatful for the veiwing pleasure as it has added great pleasure into my life. This is a true art film that can inpact your own life if you look for the deeper meaning and not what many people percieve as degrating and offensive. There truly is a fine line between pleasure and pain and as long as it it a mutual relationship pain can be pleasurable as O did realize. There are critics in every crowd and this movie will always cause controversy due to the nature and subject matter. If you have not already made up your mind on this type of subject matter The Story Of O is an exceptional look into the world domination and submission. This movie delves into and explains aspects of submission while making sure total trust still remains as the heart of the movie.

`The Story of O' directed by Just Jaeckin and `The Image' directed by Radley Metzger are both based on famous and critically well received French erotic novels written, I believe, in the 1960s by Pauline Reage (a pseudonym) and Jean de Berg respectively. In turn, the two movies are both considered masterpieces of erotic moviemaking. Yet the latter is clearly better than the former, in spite of the fact that the two books are, to my mind, roughly equal in quality. I may even believe that `The Story of O' is superior as a novel to de Berg's fiction.While both are of a very high quality, they approach roughly the same subject in very different ways. In `The Story of O', everything is seen and told through the eyes of the submissive, `O'. In `The Image', everything is seen through the eyes of the bystander become dominant, Jean. That does not mean that `O' can tell us nothing of the dominant psychology or `Image' tell us nothing of the submissive psychology. In fact, it is one of the strengths of `The Image' that it probably tells us more about true psychological submissiveness than the movie, `O'.The primary problem with `The Story of O' film is that while its source is certainly a very well constructed fantasy, the director does not hide this fact and play it as reality. This may be comparable to our not taking the confrontation between Gandalf and the Balrog at the bridge in the mines of Moria (in `Lord of the Rings') because we know this is all a fantasy. The power of great fantasies is that they allow us to totally suspend disbelief for the course of the experience. In Jaeckin's commentary, he states over and over that this is all a fantasy and was intended as such by author, Reage. But, one of Reage's great skills was to minimize the improbable aspects of the story to sustain the sense that this plot is actually being played out by real people.The second problem for me with `The Story of O' is the fact that it did not improve on my imagination while I was reading the book. Going back to that other fantasy, `Lord of the Rings', one of its great successes is the fact that at every turn, it improved on the constructs of my imagination. The black riders, the Uruk-hai, and Shelob were all far scarier than what I read, and the reading was pretty scary. At but one scene does the film outdo my imagination.The third problem, which the movie shares with the book, is the improbability of a woman's so easily moving her affection from one dominant to the next. The book's original ending makes great use of the chasm this reliance on a master opens at the submissive's feet. The movie squanders the great original ending in a muddle of alternatives.`The Image' easily sidesteps the last problem by being a very simple `menage a trois'. And, while the submissive is asked to perform with outsider, Jean, she is always devoted primarily to dominant Claire. As far as improving on my imagination, I will only say that from what you think you are seeing on the screen, director Metzger is pulling no punches and Mary Mendum playing the submissive is about as convincing as I can imagine in her role, in comparison to `O''s actress, Corinne Clery, who sometimes seems to be simply working through the boredom in some scenes.Part of the reality of `The Image' is based on the immediacy of all the settings. Like some films by Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, where New York City is almost as much a character in the movie as the actors on the screen, several locations in Paris are important contributors to the lush, overripe feel of the film. In contrast, `The Story of O' could have as easily been filmed in Quebec or Sidney, and no one would have noticed the difference.On the other hand, while the two films are of roughly the same lengths, `The Image' spends a lot more time conveying the relationship by showing its fruits rather than by talking about it.Both movies are easily 1000% better than any other movie on these subjects, but `The Image' is clearly the better of the two in a very small field.

Cinema's original sin returns with its shocking portrait of sexual submission from master of erotica Just Jaeckin (Emmanuelle, Lady Chatterley's Lover). Written by Anne Desclos (aka Pauline Reage, Dominique Aury) in 1954. A stunning young woman (Corinne Clery) surrenders herself at a remote chateau at her lover's request and is immediately forced into a round the clock regimen of every sexual appetite imaginable. Her submission is total to the orgasmic odyssey that explores the shadowy boundaries between pleasure and pain. The test is severe - sexual in method, psychological in substance. The most revealing scene is when a young man comes to call on her and sees first hand the whipping, flogging and caning she endures at the hands of her Masters sadistic maid.In the creation of the movie, a delicate balance had to be maintained between making a beautiful romantic and erotic movie, which it is, and simply a pornographic movie which it is not. Certain scenes had to be removed because they dealt with issues that were to extreme for the public to understand or accept, and also to pass censorship.This is a must see movie for anyone in the BDSM community. The artistic interest here has precisely to do with the use not only of erotic materials but also erotic methods, the deliberate stimulation of the viewer as a part of and means to a total, authentic movie experience.I gave it 5 Stars.

I purchased this item on Amazon.com, but the DVD would not play on either of my two DVD players. It would not play on my Bluray player. It would not play on my computer either. It did not come with a book as stated on the case. This was a complete waste of money. Do not buy this item! There is nothing in the product description to indicate that this product is anything other than the standard DVD format.