Starring: Harrison Gilbertson, Emmanuelle Beart, Rachael Blake, Socratis Otto
Distributor: Transmission Films
Runtime: 99 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2014
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The use of the term “mistress” suggests a sexual theme. But, it is not quite the theme or treatment that we might have anticipated.
First of all, this is a story set in Queensland, in the suburbs. The “my” of the title is a 16-year-old boy, Charlie (Harrison Gilbertson). We first see him jumping on the top of an old car, smoking, having a drink, riding his bike home. A teenager story?
Then, almost immediately, he finds his father hanging in the garage and having to cut him down, going into a party in the house, a crowd with loud music, to tell his mother (Rachael Blake). Throughout the film, the plot focuses on this relationship between son and mother, quite tense, Charlie developing a hostility to his mother, his mother concerned and frustrated.
But, on the way home on his bike, he has noticed a woman moving into a house and her impatience with the removalists. Later, he goes to the house out of curiosity, goes inside and he, and we, perhaps, are rather shocked to find that the “mistress” of the title is a dominatrix. She is played by French actress, Emmanuelle Beart.
Over the years, there have been several serious Australian films about sexuality, including some of the more perverse aspects, like Sleeping Beauty. This film is different, looking at the reactions of the teenager, especially after the bereavement of his father’s death, his visists to the house, his growing infatuation with the dominatrix, who has the down-to-earth name, Maggie. He gets a job working in her garden, though she lays down strict conditions. But, he is impressionable and vulnerable, fantasises about her at home, is curious about her clients.
With sado-masochism in the suburbs, it is a bit hard to take it all, chambers and whips, all that seriously. There is a key scene where Maggie hides Charlie in a coffin with a peephole while she dominates a client with humiliating behaviour. Charlie gets the giggles. Which means that while the film highlights the seriousness as we look at what goes on, it often seems quite ludicrous. Maggie’s comment to Charlie is that this experience is not what the client wants but what the client needs.
When it is revealed that Maggie has a little boy who is in foster care, the film takes on a much more human dimension. As Charlie becomes more and more involved, even driving Maggie to see her little boy, we wonder what will and can become of this relationship. Maggie has a lot of genuine feelings, is sympathetic to Charlie, but the relationship must come to an end.
Harrison Gilbertson acts well, giving some credibility to Charlie and his feelings, his understanding and lack of understanding, his dilemmas as a schoolboy. Emmanuelle Beart has portrayed somewhat similar characters in French films, but her character is not really explained, especially how and why she is in Queensland and who set her up in the house. Maybe these are distractions to the main emphasis of the film, but some explanation would add to the credibility of characters and plot.
While there are a couple of sado-masochistic scenes, the film is rather restrained, visually, leaving some aspects to the imagination of the audience. In an era when young people are exposed to sexual behaviour, reinforced by material available on the Internet, My Mistress does raise some questions about the effect on young people, and for the future.
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