The Duke of Burgundy

Peter Strickland’s visually and aurally intoxicating tale of sadomasochistic power-play is a daringly erotic sensory feast.

Peter Strickland’s follow-up to Berberian Sound Studio is a daringly erotic sensory feast. Cynthia and Evelyn inhabit an exclusively female world; their love for each other expressed through ritual sado-masochist role-play.

Cynthia, the cool ice queen, seemingly dominates the obliging, submissive Evelyn, but their relationship begins to unravel when Cynthia starts to suffer from performance fatigue. Channelling the early 70s eroticism of Jess Franco and José Ramón Larraz, Strickland creates a decadent, finely calibrated universe that is as sensually and cinematically distinctive as it is funny and true. The Duke of Burgundy was made with the support of the BFI using funds from the National Lottery.