"In Mistress, there are no longer human persons but objects subject to pleasures in which the director sometimes seems to be an accomplice." Telerama

Young provincial, Olivier is looking for adventure. Arrived in Paris, he joins Mario who hires him to go door to door and sell art books. By offering their services in an old building, they meet Ariane together. The unoccupied apartment below, Mario returns with Olivier, the same night, to rob him. The two men find themselves face to face with Ariane, dressed in a leather outfit. She releases them, in exchange for a small "service" from Olivier...

Barbet Schroeder plays with good morals and the benevolent bourgeoisie by making an uncompromising film with Mistress about individuals and their sexual practices. Here, the characters are consumed in the execution of their deepest desires and the clothes and accessories become one with the bodies they marry. Never, since Buñuel, had masochism left room for such reflection.

MISTRESS
(1976 – Colors – 108 mins)

SUPPLEMENTS

. INTERVIEW WITH BARBET SCHROEDER BY JEAN DOUCHET (18 mins)
When Jean Douchet and Barbet Schroeder meet for an unprecedented interview, Mistress is unmasked.

. MISTRESS WITHOUT ABOVE BELOW (17 mn)
Interview with Jean Streff, screenwriter, director, author of Masochism in the Cinema and of Treatise on Fetichism (Sade Prize 2005) on the evolution of mentalities and the democratization of masochistic practices.

. A WOMAN AND HER DOUBLE (13 mins)
Interview with Jeanne De Berg (Catherine Robbe-Grillet), author of Women's Ceremonies. This Mistress, with a double and veiled identity, tells us what brings her closer to and distances her from the character in Barbet Schroeder's film.

. TRAILER

Released October 3, 2006