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The Story of O

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40% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings

Critics Reviews

View All (10) Critics Reviews
Dennise Brown Gay Community News (Boston) Like O leaving the chateau, we leave the movie changed in ways we did not expect. Sep 12, 2022 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins It's intended to be an erotic, female-oriented drama, yet it's difficult to view it as anything other than an exploitive male fantasy. Rated: 2/10 Aug 31, 2020 Full Review Jeanne Córdova Los Angeles Free Press The Story of O will hit you like dope, sky diving or French eclairs. It calls you back like an addiction, or leaves you totally turned off. Aug 23, 2019 Full Review Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) Everything ends up being vacuous and aseptic. [Full Review in Spanish] Jul 29, 2019 Full Review Tim Brayton Antagony & Ecstasy The psychological element of the film is almost totally lacking, thanks to perfectly flat performances by virtually everyone in it. Rated: 5/10 Mar 1, 2015 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Rated: 2/5 Mar 8, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Preston B For what is is, it's done quite well with a real budget and moderately decent acting. If you hate the theme, sexual control, then instead of rating it zero, you shouldn't watch it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/08/24 Full Review william d Yeah, I know, it's cheesy 1970s soft porn, but I enjoyed the film anyway. The story is different and it looks like they actually spent some money making it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Worth watching. Has really good dynamic styles for the Master/slave lifestyle. They do use consent non consent in somethings, overall it was done right for its time. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review jack c Worst narration ever. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member <strong>The Story of O</strong> (Just Jaeckin, 1975) French softcore director Just Jaeckin made his name-and made history-with the most successful softcore film of all time, 1974's <em>Emmanuelle</em>, which launched a massive franchise, brought some small semblance of artistry to softcore filmmaking, and in many ways legitimized the genre. In other words, Jaeckin could probably have retired after that one film and left the world an enduring legacy. But some folks just can't leave well enough alone, and so Jeckin set out, with all the hubris in the world, to make the definitive softcore version of what is, quite possibly, the most famous erotic novel of all time, <em>Histoire d'O</em>. Published in 1954 by "Pauline Reage" (a pen name, we have since learned, for feisty French intellectual Dominique Aury), the novel ignited controversy well beyond its rather modest artistry, and in the decades between book and adaptation, it sold in vast quantities. How could this possibly go wrong, when pretty much everyone who's going to be going to see your movie has already read the book, and when, let's face it, it's impossible to make a softcore version of the material anyway? The outcome of this should be obvious; whom the gods would destroy, they first fill with hubris. Plot: a woman known only as O (<em>Moonraker</em>'s Corinne Clery) is dating Rene (<em>Suspiria</em>'s Udo Kier). As we open, they're in a car, being driven to a country mansion. We soon find it is a school of sorts, where women are taught submission through long session of S&M and an inability to say no to any of the school's masters who would have them. After she is well-trained enough, Rene reclaims her and, seemingly on a whim, hands her over to his half-brother, Sir Stephen (<em>The Wooden Horse</em>'s Anthony Steel), ay which point, not surprising to anyone but Rene, a love triangle develops. Ain't life grand. The movie fails on just about every count; the sex is un-sexy, the S&M is so badly-filmed that, as has been pointed out in almost every review, O spends hours being flogged and yet never has a mark on her, and the action stops every few minutes for what are, essentially, lectures to the audience on Sadean philosophy. I'm sure someone, somewhere, knows of a reason to watch this movie, but I can't come up with one other than that Clery and Kier were both destined for much bigger things. * 1/2 Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Never really knew what to expect of O, thought of reading it, so now I have an idea of what it's about....though I would much rather prefer for the roles to be reversed! Rene would be MY little slave. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Story of O

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Movie Info

Director
Just Jaeckin