Writer of O

Synopsis: Writer of O is a dramatic documentary on the long-hidden author of the world-famous, erotic novel Story of O. Known for forty years as Pauline Réage, the author chose at 86 to reveal herself as Dominique Aury, a mild-mannered literary editor for Gallimard, France's most prestigious publishing house. The contrast of her two disparate personalities forms the center of this hybrid film, which sets documentary footage of her and her contemporaries against dramatized scenes from her erotic novel and fictionalized scenes from her life during the period in which she wrote her scandalous book. The film treats the subjects of sex and love, literature, feminism, censorship, creativity and freedom. Central to the discovery of Aury's motivation for writing the book is the love story between her and her lover, the celebrated French man-of-letters, Jean Paulhan. Their clandestine affair inspired the book and is re-created here in moving scenes from Aury's essay "A Girl in Love." Major figures in the film include the audacious publishers Jean-Jacques Pauvert in France and Barney Rosset of Grove Press in the U.S. The British author and journalist, John de St. Jorre, author of a revelatory article in The New Yorker which exposed Aury, leads us through the story. Regine Deforges, the novelist and journalist who conducted a revealing interview with Aury in 1975, Confessions of O, re-imagines that conversation with actress Catherine Mouchet playing the role of Dominique Aury. Scenes from Story of O are also dramatized in the film, creating an atmosphere similar to that found at the chateau which Aury described in her book: frightening, visceral, mysterious, and profoundly erotic.   Source: Zeitgeist Films