LA PRISONNIERE   1968. (Woman in Chains) Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot 106 minutes In French with English subtitles

Back in the 1940 and 50s Henri-Georges Clouzot was one of the masters of classical French suspense films, making gems like Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques. But in the 60s the times were changing and he changed with them, and suddenly his films ventured into new areas, exploring transgressive themes and experimenting with outrageously wild colour designs. The movies he now made stepped into the realm of sexuality and sensuality. Sometimes they would go so off-track that would crash before he could even finish them, which is what happened to his previous uncompleted project L'enfer, with Romy Schneider. La prisonnière would wind up being Clouzot's only film completed in colour, and it was the last of his career.

This flick centers on an artist who is churning out modern pop art, but his wife feels neglected. He is thinking more about his career than anything else. One day his frustrated wife meets her husband's gallery owner (Laurent Terzieff) who has a predilection for s&m photography on the side. She starts modeling for him, which leads all three of them on a crazed adventure. The themes explored in this passion-play venture into voyeurism, submission and bondage.The director at once embraces this new liberalism that was exploding in society, but also shows it has a dark, dangerous side. A movie about the limits and contradictions of freedom, visualized with a punchy psychedelic edge... but also a flick that explores new forms of alienation. The soundtrack reflects this cultural disorientation featuring music by Anton Webern, Gustav Mahler, and Iannis Xenakis.

This will be a high-definition screening.