HISTOIRE D'O is famous and yet few will say they've seen it or admit they've seen it. Just look at the few reviews posted here at IMDb. The main reason is simply because the whole thing is risible! It's beautifully shot but still risible. It's almost like an old Benny Hill sketch : O loves Rene but Rene loves Jacqueline who loves Sir Stephen who loves O who loves Jacqueline who loves the fire hydrant. On and on it goes. I truly wondered what planet they were living on since very little of it made sense. Do they ever buy groceries? Wait in line at the bank? You know, things normal mortals do. The story wants us to believe it's all about love but love has nothing to do with the people inhabiting this baroque soft-core reverie. Love? Hahaha!
Like all "erotic" films of the period, all women are bisexual, or anythingsexual, ready to take off their flimsily clothes for the audiences' viewing pleasure. This brings up the main point of the "film" : the focus is only on the women which makes me wonder why they'd bothered with the male characters, who were very boring. Obviously the director, producers, and writer didn't care for them. They are merrily there to serve a purpose. The film would have been much more honest if the entire cast had been female, which during one segment it was. This is probably the best part of the film, not because it's all female but because the lecherous filmmakers could finally show every detail of the females' bodies along with their "tortured" minds.
The only saving grace of this superficial "charnel" nonsense was Corinne Clery. Remove her from the film and there would be nothing left to watch. Corinne was practically naked throughout the film. Her body was perfect back then.
In the end, the entire "complex" story, bogged down by its own pretensions and limitations, was bereft of the one thing they wanted to achieve : true eroticism.
Like all "erotic" films of the period, all women are bisexual, or anythingsexual, ready to take off their flimsily clothes for the audiences' viewing pleasure. This brings up the main point of the "film" : the focus is only on the women which makes me wonder why they'd bothered with the male characters, who were very boring. Obviously the director, producers, and writer didn't care for them. They are merrily there to serve a purpose. The film would have been much more honest if the entire cast had been female, which during one segment it was. This is probably the best part of the film, not because it's all female but because the lecherous filmmakers could finally show every detail of the females' bodies along with their "tortured" minds.
The only saving grace of this superficial "charnel" nonsense was Corinne Clery. Remove her from the film and there would be nothing left to watch. Corinne was practically naked throughout the film. Her body was perfect back then.
In the end, the entire "complex" story, bogged down by its own pretensions and limitations, was bereft of the one thing they wanted to achieve : true eroticism.