This documentary sets the focus sharply on the often maligned and misunderstood world of sadomasochism. It gives us a glimpse into the life of The Marquesa, a Dominatrix who guides us through the SM community and its rituals and motivations.The Marquesa explores and examines her own relationship to SM, and to the submissives that make the scenes possible. The video dismantles the myths and fallacies surrounding the practice by a straightforward and frank discussion.
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Commentary by Claire Valade, Film critic from Quebec
It is particularly interesting that director Karen Young’s meticulous approach to her daring, titillating and controversial subject, sadomasochism, is so composed as to border on the clinical—in other words, her restraint is exemplary. The Marquesa does include some explicit sex, but the film is not provocative or voyeuristic, let alone pornographic. That is a feat in itself, and the film deserves a close viewing, if only to better understand this subculture and its members.
