She will open your eyes.For a change, the character portrayed by Gérard Depardieu in Maîtresse is relatively normal; it is the world around him which has gone slightly mad. Looking for a measure of affection and companionship, Olivier (Depardieu) crosses the path of the lovely Ariane (Bulle Ogier). She happens to be a professional dominatrix-and from the evidence we're presented, she's one of the most accomplished of her ilk. How this mismatched (to put it mildly) relationship can possibly work is the core of Maîtresse.

Maîtresse ("mistress" or "teacher", in French), is a 1975 French film directed by Barbet Schroeder, starring Bulle Ogier and, in one of his earliest leading roles, Gérard Depardieu. The film provoked controversy in the United Kingdom and the United States because of its graphic depictions of sado-masochism.

Maîtresse was first submitted to the British Board of Film Classification in 1976. Examiners' reports agreed that the film was well made and not exploitative, but under their censorship standards of the time it had to be refused a certificate: "the actual scenes of fetishism are miles in excess of anything we have ever passed in this field".[1] This meant that it could not be shown in a public cinema, but in 1980, it was given showings in private clubs and subsequently re-examined, and in February 1981 was granted an X certificate in a cut version. To gain the certificate, a total of 4 minutes and 47 seconds' footage was removed from three scenes, most notably the scene in which Ariane nails a client's penis to a plank of wood, an act that was not simulated (and was not performed onscreen by Bulle Ogier[2]). In 2003, the film was submitted for a third time, and was passed for an 18 certificate with all previous cuts waived.

In November 2012, Maîtresse was released in a new Blu-ray Disc/DVD dual-format edition by the BFI, its first appearance on Blu-ray Disc.

The film was rated X in the United States.

Release Date: November 4, 1976 by Tinc Films