After Fall, Winter

[Mistress Fei]

Has anyone seen this film?

 

What are your thoughts on the portrayal of SM and the dynamic between the main characters, specifically the power exchange when she's a domme and he's a sub, and then in public? Same, or different?

 

Interested in all readings of this film. Have thoughts of my own but would like to hear yours.

[Dannyboy]

Has anyone seen this film?

 

What are your thoughts on the portrayal of SM and the dynamic between the main characters, specifically the power exchange when she's a domme and he's a sub, and then in public? Same, or different?

 

Interested in all readings of this film. Have thoughts of my own but would like to hear yours.

 

Dear Mistress Fei:

 

I didn't see this film. The last time I watched an S&M themed film was in 2007: Secretary. Submissive Kitty lent it to me but I watched it when my wife was asleep.

 

Dannyboy

[Howard]

Well, the reviews are all over the place, but your question has prompted me to view the movie. I will give you a perspective once that has occurred. Thanks for the question.

[dancespell98]

Mistress Fei,

 

I saw this film last winter. Superb in this way- that it makes a person think about the relationship between the mistress and the player. I encourage all to view the film.

[Manpeach]

I had a chance to view it on Netflix

 

I could certainly relate to Michael and Sophia. He is surrounded by people who care and support him, but won't say, what he believes to be the truth about himself. That he is a loser and doesn't deserve to be alive. Sophia comes from a broken family where she was left by her adoring father and her mother beaten into a state of Alzheimer's disease. She is left unable to trust relationships for fear of them ending or not being what they seem. She substitutes her lack of joy with feeling the pain of others, those in mental pain, and bringing physical pain onto themselves she despises and those in physical pain who suffer the collateral emotional pain, she adores. Both situations are short term and temporary. The shock and horror she feels when she discovers she is in love with the type she despises drives her to end the relationship.

 

I think it is interesting to see how we can go thorough life with this hidden secret, not realizing how close we are to others with the same fetish. Even when it is discussed openly, while the fetish may be the same, the need or purpose of each partner can be different and, surprisingly, they are incompatible.

 

I see Michael, the sub, controlling the power and direction of the relationship throughout the movie. It is only when she meets him in the session that Sophia is really faced with the option to continue or run from him.

 

 

Mistress Fei, if you enjoy stories of unrequited love, you should see the movie "500 days of Summer" This is not a BDSM story, more of a relationship control story. and the seasonal title is just a coincidence to the Fall/Winter tile

 

[Mistress Fei]

I had a chance to view it on Netflix

 

I could certainly relate to Michael and Sophia. He is surrounded by people who care and support him, but won't say, what he believes to be the truth about himself. That he is a loser and doesn't deserve to be alive. Sophia comes from a broken family where she was left by her adoring father and her mother beaten into a state of Alzheimer's disease. She is left unable to trust relationships for fear of them ending or not being what they seem. She substitutes her lack of joy with feeling the pain of others, those in mental pain, and bringing physical pain onto themselves she despises and those in physical pain who suffer the collateral emotional pain, she adores. Both situations are short term and temporary. The shock and horror she feels when she discovers she is in love with the type she despises drives her to end the relationship.

 

I think it is interesting to see how we can go thorough life with this hidden secret, not realizing how close we are to others with the same fetish. Even when it is discussed openly, while the fetish may be the same, the need or purpose of each partner can be different and, surprisingly, they are incompatible.

 

I see Michael, the sub, controlling the power and direction of the relationship throughout the movie. It is only when she meets him in the session that Sophia is really faced with the option to continue or run from him.

 

 

Mistress Fei, if you enjoy stories of unrequited love, you should see the movie "500 days of Summer" This is not a BDSM story, more of a relationship control story. and the seasonal title is just a coincidence to the Fall/Winter tile

 

Brilliant reading, B. Truly impressed by your level of insight.

Although, I think that Michael does indeed have people around him especially in Paris who do say to his face how much of a loser they think he is, and he is outwardly hurt by it which doesn't seem to make sense if he actually seeks out and enjoys this type of treatment.

 

I don't actually see him as in control throughout the majority of their relationship.. she sets strict boundaries and slowly does she allow him to come closer. She has all the control until he forcefully takes it from her in their first sexual encounter. The scene happens half out in the courtyard and half inside her home. I find this very symbolic.

 

There are a lot of inconsistencies that make me think the story isn't strong yet it seems to work on another level that is more complex.

 

I have seen 500 Days of Summer and I really liked it!

[Anubis]

Just recently watched this movie, here are my thoughts:

 

Sophia

 

- The first BDSM scene showed Sophia slapping a slave and going past his safeword, her attitude was bad and she should not have been sessioning like that.

 

- Another scene shows Sophia using a rack type device and nipple clamps on a slave and then start to use him as a toilet slave. I thought is rather brave to show thar even though nothing was actually shown, she said "bon appetit" to him so possibly more than just something to drink. Sophia had a much better attitude during this, pretty hot.

 

- We also had a scene where Sophia was attacked, overpowered the guy, hogtied him and then punished him with a broom handle. We find out this was just domestic based roleplay. Good to show a different kind of session.

 

Michael

 

- We see Michael having a session based on being told how pathetic he is. I don't this the BDSM he desired was healthy; maybe it made him feel better but it came across like somebody self harming. If you're cutting yourself because you enjoy ir that's fine but if you do it because you're depressed that's bad and you nees a better solution. He asked the dominatrix if she knew one who would kill a slave and was rightly told "that's not BDSM, that's murder".

 

Michael and Sophia

 

- Michael and Sophia talk about BDSM, she says it's weird and he says he no longer does it. I'm not sure how Sophie really felt but neither told the whole truth. We never get a BDSM session between them, would it have worked, would Sophie have wanted to dominate him...

 

- Michael sexually attacked Sophia but was this pre-arranged roleplay?

 

- Sophia kind of sees Michael for a session, finding out it is him she wears a mask, listens to what he wants but then just leaves. At this point he is really depressed. This was arranged by his regular dominatrix.

 

Michael and Domina X

 

- Michael phones up his regular dominatrix and says the one she sent him wasn't mean at all and just left so she refers him to Domina X. I don't like the fact that she refers him to a dangeous dominatrix, somebody on IMDB said the same, a dominatrix in fact.

 

I did find Domina X especially hot, I loved what she was wearing and her domination style, the way she talked not what she did. This went beyond BDSM but is harmless as fantasy.

 

Very sad ending

 

[Mistress Fei]

Great to hear your 2 cents Anubis. Seems like you thoroughly thought about all the depicted sessions. Makes me want to rewatch!

[Howard]

I have really tried to avoid tagging on to this thread, but I feel compelled now after seeing it last weekend and reading some of these responses.This movie was a sad attempt at yet another Romeo & Juliet revisionist tale. The ending so predictable, I called it about 1/2 way through. The cliche's and stereotypes of BDSM abound in this movie without a real insight into the feeling and emotion that goes into it. The relationship and emotion is all contrived, a set-up of a typical hurtful tale of love wrapped around a topic many consider to be taboo as an attention seeker for the "perverted". The BDSM did not even need to exist in this movie to carry the so called plot forward. The script and interaction between the characters were so shallow that it could represent any man and woman who has had any hurtful relationship in their past. It also portrays BDSM in an improper light and stresses the negatives that the BSDM community tries so hard to ensure are not represented in BDSM (i.e. rape, ignoring safe words, actual murder). It was a disconnected jumbled mess. The movie sickened me.

 

I took a look last night and have to say I agree with Soze more than any of the other comments posted at this point. A poor effort not worth the time of the actors or the producer. Certainly not worth the time spent watching it. But this is just one persons opinion.

[Mistress Fei]

I have really tried to avoid tagging on to this thread, but I feel compelled now after seeing it last weekend and reading some of these responses.This movie was a sad attempt at yet another Romeo & Juliet revisionist tale. The ending so predictable, I called it about 1/2 way through. The cliche's and stereotypes of BDSM abound in this movie without a real insight into the feeling and emotion that goes into it. The relationship and emotion is all contrived, a set-up of a typical hurtful tale of love wrapped around a topic many consider to be taboo as an attention seeker for the "perverted". The BDSM did not even need to exist in this movie to carry the so called plot forward. The script and interaction between the characters were so shallow that it could represent any man and woman who has had any hurtful relationship in their past. It also portrays BDSM in an improper light and stresses the negatives that the BSDM community tries so hard to ensure are not represented in BDSM (i.e. rape, ignoring safe words, actual murder). It was a disconnected jumbled mess. The movie sickened me.

 

Looks like it elicited quite a strong reaction out of you. I admit I really disliked the movie when I watched it first for reasons you mentioned. But I do think after watching it again it has it's redeeming qualities.

 

It seems on other message boards and in reviews, the opinions tend towards either really loving the movie or hating it.. The polarity is interesting!

[Manpeach]

 

 

Brilliant reading, B. Truly impressed by your level of insight.

Although, I think that Michael does indeed have people around him especially in Paris who do say to his face how much of a loser they think he is, and he is outwardly hurt by it which doesn't seem to make sense if he actually seeks out and enjoys this type of treatment.

 

I don't actually see him as in control throughout the majority of their relationship.. she sets strict boundaries and slowly does she allow him to come closer. She has all the control until he forcefully takes it from her in their first sexual encounter. The scene happens half out in the courtyard and half inside her home. I find this very symbolic.

 

There are a lot of inconsistencies that make me think the story isn't strong yet it seems to work on another level that is more complex.

 

I have seen 500 Days of Summer and I really liked it!

 

Mistress Fei, I guess as we each come from different perspectives viewing this film, we latch on an see different things. I haven't re-watched the film but I recall Michael's friends in Paris as trying to help him get back on his feet and supporting him with the apartment and new clothes, etc. Also, his agent trying to keep his spirits up while trying to sell his book. Even the fan who approached him in the street had nice words for him.

 

Michael was the protagonist, while he couldn't force her to like him, he did control that they would still engaged when they encounter each other, Sophia's only control was to walk away. And when they were about to kiss, it was Michael's call that she should walk away then. Even that she gave up when he took her in the doorway. I hadn't thought about the symbolism of ding it half-in/out the doorway. I was just thinking "Get inside, you're gonna get caught!"

 

Again, Sophia has control while in the mask, listening to his desires. But she is only in control because she is incognito. It would have been quite different if Michael knew who she was.

 

All in all I felt sorry for her, I didn't feel she was a committed domme, she appeared bored while slapping the sub while he was saying his safe word. I felt she had closed off the world around her and only felt through the dying. In the end she comes around, but with such tragic results.

 

I hope your experiences and happiness are more positive and rewarding than Sophia's.

[ConsentOptional]

I will have to hunt it up on Netflix. But from reading IMDB it touches on 2 of my favorite themes. The secret dominatrix. And the notion that empathy does not necessarily result in consensualism.

 

Most of the roleplays I think of involve someone who is not at first understood to be a dominatrix. Or who is known to me as a dominatrix but I am either not allowed to disclose this or it is simply the case that no one would believe that this woman is forcing me to submit to her when she need only snap her fingers to be surrounded by willing subjects.

 

The intersection of empathy and nonconsent is even trickier. But suppose this. Suppose that the kindest thing the dominatrix could do would be to fasten a collar around your neck and say, "Come with me, boy." And when you protested, gag you and continue as she had planned. Perhaps you have been struggling to believe you don't 'need this'. Perhaps you live the rest of the time at a level of control that seems to conflict completely with the idea of fully accepting the authority of another. The community here may have come to terms with it, or believe they have. But many have not, and they aren't here, or they are here and playing it close to the vest. Which is fine.

 

In my case, in the heat of a project I am engaged 7 days a week trying to stay ahead of issues, doing other people's thinking, always making a list, always... something. And increasingly not present. I reach a point where I badly need a window where nothing depends on my say-so. Not an anger or revenge-based session, which is too often the answer you get when you ask about non-consent. But a combination of seduction, force, and intolerance of resistance.

 

Yes, it's very hard to find. But it's all that interests me.