"Fetish film ties itself in knots"

A dominatrix working at a Roppongi club (which will remain unnamed) once told me that many of her clients were men in executive or managerial jobs. After giving orders all week, it seemed they were eager to take some discipline themselves, whether that meant being collared and forced to bark like a dog, or having a nail driven through their . . . well, let's just stop there.

Anyway, the parallels between corporate world power struggles and the psychology of S&M were out there waiting to be drawn, and Olivier Assayas, with his film "Demonlover," has taken a crack at it. Set in a future just slightly beyond the grasp of the present, "Demonlover" follows ruthless corporate warriors as they try to secure the market for Internet S&M porn sites.

Diane de Monx (Connie Nielsen, "Gladiator") works for the Europe-based Volf Corporation, who are engaged in negotiations with Japanese content providers Tokyo Anime, the developers of new 3-D pornography. Eager to be at the helm of the negotiations, Diane drugs her superior, Karen (Dominique Reymond), and has her spirited away by thugs until the corporation has her replaced by Diane. Diane's colleague Herve (Charles Berling), however, knows of this treachery, and uses his knowledge to needle Diane, but doesn't spill the beans -- all the better to control her. Click here for the rest of this review