Madame X: An Absolute Ruler A Film by Ulrike Ottinger Germany 1977 16 mm, color, 141 minutes Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduction, Berlin in Cooperation with ZDF, Mainz Premiere: Steirischer Herbst 1977, Graz Festivals: Filmfestspiele Rotterdam 1978; Berlin Filmfestival, Internationales Forum 1978; Filmfestival Edinburgh 1978; Locarno 1978; Aperto 80, Biennale di Venezia Festivals in New Delhi San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago etc. Distributed by Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek e.V. On the women's ship Orlando the flags of attack, leather, weapons, lesbian love and death are raised with a beauty which dispenses with a total domination of the viewer's gaze. The aesthetic is strictly stylized, exhibiting itself without overwhelming us. Madame X, a harsh, pitiless beauty, the cruel uncrowned ruler of the China Sea, launches an appeal to all women willing to exchange their comfortable and secure but unbearably dull lives for a world of dangers and uncertainties, but full of love and adventure. Women of the most diverse nationalities and walks of life respond to her call. All of their accumulated discontent unites to form a powerful whole, and they sail off with a favorable wind. excerpt from the script Clippings What makes the film disturbing is that women willingly succumb to the fascination of rituals of power and - in men's imagination - abandon the territory of innocence and the presumption of women's moral superiority, rejecting the gentleness of other women's films, which, like Agnès Varda's last work, promise 'love without cares'. This film shows not a trace of fearfulness. On the contrary, it is calculated to evoke fear in those who put up resistance against the fascination of this ritualized and totally aestheticized power. Karsten Witte, Die Zeit Cast/ Staff Madame X Tabea Blumenschein Noa-Noa Roswitha Janz Karla Freud-Goldmund Monika von Cube Blow-up Irena von Lichtenstein Josephine de Collage Yvonne Rainer Hoi Sin Hella Utesch Betty Brillo Lutze Omega Zentauri La Mona Orlando Ulrike Ottinger Flora Tannenbaum Claudia Skoda Belcampo Mackay Taylor Moorenhut Jean Matelot Lady Divine Mireille Wunderly Passengers and Staff of the Yacht Peggy von Schnottgenberg, Jenny Capitain, Hans-Gebhart von Lenthe, Adelheid Westphal, Cynthia Beatt Screenplay Director Cinematographer Ulrike Ottinger Assistant Director Peggy von Schnottgenberg (alias Frank Ripploh), Cynthia Beatt Assistant Cinematographer Wolfgang Senn Costumes Tabea Blumenschein, Hella Utesch, Claudia Skoda Make-up Tabea Blumenschein Editor Dörte Völz Sound Montage Ulrike Ottinger Sound Christian Moldt Mixing Hans-Dieter Schwarz Music by Eric Satie, Gioacchino Rossini, Reynaldo Hahn, Francis Poulenc Distribution: Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek e.V. Potsdamer Str. 2 D-10785 Berlin Germany Contact: Karl Winter fon +49-30-269 55 150 fax +49-30-269 55 111 Sales: Available at Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduction