History of BDSM in film
Fiction films and television significant in the history of BDSM
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- DirectorJerald IntratorStarsMeg MylesGrayson HallMike KeeneA carnival burlesque dancer robs her junkie ex-husband, goes to New York, gets a job at a high-class club where she becomes the mistress of the wealthy owner. She seduces his son and causes a murder.
- DirectorJust JaeckinStarsCorinne CléryUdo KierAnthony SteelPhotographer O's lover takes her to a Château, where she is, like other women there, naked, humiliated by whipping, sexual abuse by men etc. When O leaves, her lover gives her to his much older step-brother.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsGérard DepardieuBulle OgierAndré RouyerA common thief (Depardieu) breaks into the house of a professional dominatrix (Ogier), and begins to help her "train" her clients. Though this world is alien to his experience, he finds himself falling in love with her. Eventually he discovers that she does this in order to support her son, and he attempts to help her out of this life, which she is not sure she really wants to leave.
- DirectorStuart UrbanStarsGuinevere TurnerChristien AnholtTom BellWhile working for a conservative MP, an IT professional infiltrates a BDSM club and falls for the head dominatrix.
- DirectorSam Taylor-JohnsonStarsDakota JohnsonJamie DornanJennifer EhleLiterature student Anastasia Steele's life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey.
- DirectorEric WerthmanStarsGeno LechnerRoger ReesRichard EaganPeter, a married psychotherapist, and Suzanne, a professional dominatrix, have been engaged in an affair of sensual dominance and submission in an S&M dungeon where they must abide by the rules. Now, those rules are about to be broken.
- DirectorRobert CuffleyStarsLeelee SobieskiTricia HelferLothaire BluteauA small town girl runs into big time trouble as she takes on her roommates identity as a dominatrix to pay the bills.
- 2000–201545mTV-148.2 (1K)TV EpisodeDirectorPeter MarkleStarsWilliam PetersenMarg HelgenbergerGary DourdanThe death of a woman named Mona whose body was dumped in a sand pit leads Grissom and Catherine to a fetish club run by Lady Heather. Since Mona was a dominant, Lady Heather was surprised that her employee was tortured and suffocated to death. This leads Grissom to conclude that the victim was a 'switch', someone who could play both the dominant or the submissive role.
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsMickey RourkeKim BasingerMargaret WhittonA woman becomes involved with a man she barely knows. Complications develop during their sexual escapades.
- DirectorGarry MarshallStarsDana DelanyDan AykroydRosie O'DonnellElliot heads for the sexual fantasy island, Eden. He takes some photos of diamond smugglers. They and undercover cops want the photos and follow him to Eden.Atrocious. Strictly for camp value.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsEmmanuelle SeignerMathieu AmalricAn actress attempts to convince a director how she's perfect for a role in his upcoming production.
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsErnie AlloBruce ByronFrank CarifiA gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames WoodsDebbie HarrySonja SmitsA programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsJames DarrenBarbara McNairMaria RohmA jazz trumpeter becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman whose corpse he discovers on a beach, after which she seemingly returns to life to take revenge on those responsible for her death.
- DirectorDon EdmondsStarsDyanne ThorneGregory KnophTony MumoloIlsa is an evil Nazi warden at a death camp that conducts "medical experiments." Ilsa's goal is to prove women can withstand more pain and suffering than men, and therefore should be allowed to fight on the front lines.
- DirectorCraig BrewerStarsChristina RicciSamuel L. JacksonJustin TimberlakeA God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, looks everywhere for love, never quite finding it.
- DirectorSteven ShainbergStarsJames SpaderMaggie GyllenhaalJeremy DaviesA young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.
- DirectorLiliana CavaniStarsDirk BogardeCharlotte RamplingPhilippe LeroyA concentration camp survivor rekindles her sadomasochistic relationship with her lover, a former SS officer - now working as a night porter at a Vienna hotel - but his former Nazi associates begin stalking them.
- DirectorJohn Cameron MitchellStarsSook-Yin LeePeter SticklesPJ DeBoyA group of New Yorkers caught up in their romantic-sexual milieu converge at an underground salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsJulie WaltersAlec McCowenShirley StelfoxThe story of the rise of a madame of a suburban brothel catering to older men, inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne.
- DirectorMary HarronStarsGretchen MolLili TaylorChris BauerThe life of Bettie Page, a 1950s pin-up model and one of the first sex icons in America, who became the target of a Senate investigation because of her risqué bondage photos.
- DirectorGualtiero JacopettiFranco ProsperiStarsStefano SibaldiSusan HampshireDick GregoryTwo documentary filmmakers go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South, to film the slave trade.
- DirectorPola RapaportStarsDominique AuryCyril CorralThierry de CarbonnièresPublished in Paris in 1954, The Story of O was an immediate bestseller and literary scandal: an elegantly written S&M fantasy that had all the hallmarks of being an autobiographical account by the pseudonymous Pauline Réage. In 1994 Dominique Aury, a mild-mannered, dowdy 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 and various French intellectuals expound on the thorny relationship between sexuality and power, submission and freedom, liberation and non-being. Even today, The Story of O mystifies in its power and confounds in its contradictions.