On dominance and submission
The Piano Teacher should probably be on the list, if you haven’t seen it already.
Last Tango In Paris.
Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom: be warned, this film is pretty intense! Be sure you really want to see this before taking a look at it.
The Lover.
Basic Instinct: maybe not a great film, but it sort of covers that territory and the sex scenes are really well done.
The Dreamers?
Gate of Flesh.
Those are the first ones I’m thinking of.
The Last Seduction: I think that’s the correct title.
I’m currently watching The Woman. It might count for this.
Maitresse. I think it’s the most graphic S&M movie you’ll ever see.
Have fun with The Woman, Bijou.
Sleeping Beauty (2011)
The Hitcher
Lies- this late ’90s Korean film is a little painful to watch, no pun intended.
The Night Porter
Sada
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Maitresse — oh yes! ;)
Thought this thread was about a Blue Oyster Cult song….
Maitresse definitely fits the bill, I saw that film last week. Another new film I saw recently was Tyrannosaur, which would fit in some ways for sure. I was really absorbed in Tyrannosaur. Very bleak film, not without upliftment though, and certainly a dose of truth and pathos.
Agree with Nightshift about THE NIGHT PORTER. It was the gold standard for a while, although VENUS IN FURS might have been in the running.
Not that either can claim to wholly abandon the sleaze factor, Vonpurr.
For a subtle, stylized, and at times downright obtuse exploration of this theme,
I highly recommend THE SERVANT (Joseph Losey, 1963, scripted by Harold Pinter).
Might be too obvious to point out Miike and Cronenberg but…
Audition, A Dangerous Method, Ichi the Killer, Videodrome all have sado-masochistic elements.
Not sure if you’re going purely for the BDSM angle but I’d also add The Bitter Tea of General Yen to the debate. Despite sharing an obvious similarity in title to the Fassbinder film, the plot is essentially about Stockholm Syndrome. For 1933 (and Frank Capra!!) it’s pretty subversive stuff.
Querelle
Une affaire de gout
The killer inside me
Romance—Catherine Breillat
In the Realm of the Senses—Nagisa Oshima
Perhaps The Blue Angel can be considered. Certainly the topic of submission comes into play.
I really like Cody K’s idea of The Bitter Tea of General Yen being examined.
9 &a half Weeks—Adrian Lyne
I really, truly, absolutely, love The Bitter Tea of General Yen. My favourite Capra.
me too! ^ i’m happy it’s getting some recognition
Oh, thank you so much! So many new recommendations I have to check out… and indeed, I would love to bring into attention something that goes beyond that bdsm kind of dominance… but the purely psychological one, too.
It’s gonna be a long weekend apparently :) Thank you!
There is also a short French movie on Mubi, Weaknesses that is about submission
Martha by Fassbinder.
The Blue Angel
Of Human Bondage
The Blue Brothers.— Fisher VS Belushi
That Obscure Object of Desire
Red Angel
The Image, by Radley Metzger.
It undeniably has some sleazy moments, I admit, but it is strangely compelling, especially the way the characters wind up concluding their adventures together, and how the strength of each of the three main characters personalities shift by the end.
Utopia (Sohrab Shahid Saless)
Code Blue (Urszula Antoniak)
Exhausted (Kim Gok)
Moonlight Whispers (Akihiko Shiota)
Dorothea´s Revenge (Peter Fleischmann)
I also recommend The Servant, fascinating take on British class.
The Master
VonPurr
Hi! I was wondering if maybe you could suggest some titles that explore the whole dominant and submissive dynamics but in a way that detaches itself from a rather sleazy way of portraying it, without losing its substance. Maybe in the style of Secretary, The Story of O or Murakami’s Tokyo Decadence…