Histoire d'O has become a classic of erotic literature, alongside My Secret Life and the works of De Sade. During the winter of 1954. O had already become the topic of conversation in French cafés and salons. To further confuse matters, no one knew who its author, Pauline Réage, was. In early 1955, the book received the Prix des Deux Magots, an honor that had been bestowed on such underground notables as Raymond Queneau and Antoine Blondin. The police attempted to suppress the work; but as suddenly as the investigation began, it was shut down amid rumors that a high governmental official had read the work and ordered it left in circulation. Grove Press published the English translation in 1965. Now director Just Jaeckin has turned it into a remarkable film, starring Corine Cléry and Udo Kier (as her lover, René). The story is of a young woman whose lover donates her, body and soul, to a château where women are kept enslaved for the pleasure of a group of men. They are tortured, shackled and used for pleasure. Thus trained for their submissive role, they are returned to the outside world, where they are expected to behave in a manner befitting the customs of the castle. If they slip up, they return for more training. It is a nightmare and a day-dream combined, without moral or message, an exploration of that dim area between pain and pleasure. Incidentally, Mlle. Réage's identity is still unknown.