Maitresse(1976)

Barbet Schroeder's is a landmark work of French cinema that remains one of the most frank and non-judgmental explorations of the BDSM subculture ever filmed. Starring a young, wiry Gérard Depardieu and the enigmatic Bulle Ogier , it is at once a "perverse romance" and a cool, detached study of power and intimacy. Plot and Atmosphere

The film begins when Olivier (Depardieu), a small-time thief, breaks into a Paris apartment only to discover it is a fully equipped dungeon. He quickly falls for its owner, Ariane (Ogier), a professional dominatrix. Maitresse(1976)

: The narrative thrives on the contrast between Ariane’s two lives: her "normal" relationship with Olivier in the apartment upstairs and her "work" with clients in the dungeon below. Barbet Schroeder's is a landmark work of French