WRITER OF O
O asleep, waiting for her lover in the Château (Penelope Puymirat)
Documentary on “Pauline Réage”, the hidden author of the French erotic classic, Story of O.
80 minutes. Produced by INA, Blinding Light, Inc. and Arte/France. 2004
In 1994, Pauline Réage was unmasked as mild-mannered Gallimard literary critic Dominique Aury. Aury was then further unmasked as her birth name, Anne Desclos.
From the Film Forum program notes:
Published in Paris in 1954, “Story of O” was an immediate best-seller and literary scandal: an elegantly written S&M fantasy that had all the hallmarks of being an autobiographical account of outrageous erotic exploits, written by the pseudonymous Pauline Réage. In 1994, Dominique Aury, a mild-mannered editor for France’s prestigious Gallimard press, revealed her authorship.
Pola Rapaport explores Aury’s inspiration, recreating the world of ‘50s literary Paris and setting it against dramatic sequences that bring the infamous book to life.
The author as well as various French intellectuals expound on the thorny relationship between sexuality and power, submission and freedom, liberation and non-being. Even today, “Story of O” mystifies in its power and confounds in its contradictions. In Aury’s own words: “Purest love demands frightful submission. The prison itself can open the gates to freedom.”
“Audacious”
– L’HUMANITÉ
“With virtuosity, it combines the filmmaker’s search, dramatizations of the book, and the quiet sweetness of Dominique Aury”
– LIBÉRATION
“Remarkable intelligence… magnificent”
– LE MONDE
US Theatrical Premiere- Released by Zeitgeist Films
The Film Forum, New York, followed by US Domestic theatrical run
Prizes
Grand Prix, Best Documentary, URTI, Monte Carlo
Broadcast
Arte/France & Germany, RTBF/ Belgium, YLE/Finland, Sundance Channel/US
Festivals
Toronto Int’l Film Festival (world premiere) • Amsterdam IDFA • Jerusalem Int’l Film Festival • FIPA • INPUT Taiwan • Seattle • Denver • Newport • Wisconsin et al