Mano Destra
| Mano Destra | |
|---|---|
 A bound woman, a central subject of the film | |
| Directed by | Cleo Uebelmann |
| Written by | Cleo Uebelmann |
| Starring | Cleo Uebelmann Unknown model |
Release date |
|
Running time | 53 minutes |
| Country | Switzerland |
Mano Destra (Italian for "right hand") is a 1986 Swiss lesbian sadomasochistic art film written, directed by and starring Cleo Uebelmann. Shot in black and white on 16mm film, Mano Destra is a study of erotic objectification which depicts Uebelmann as a dominatrix tying a woman in a lengthy series of acts of consensual bondage.[1] The film dwells at length on the bound woman tied in a series of positions, in a series of extended almost static shots. The film has music and sound effects, but is without dialogue.
The film is presented as a set of tableux; only at the end do we see the dominatrix and her subject touch.[2]
Images from the film were later published in 1988 as part of a book, The Dominas - Mano Destra by the Cleo Übelmann-Group.[3] Uebelmann was 22 at the time of the film's making.[4]
The music is by the Swiss electro-wave group The Vyllies.[5]
Reception
[edit]Writing in Women, Workers, & Whores on Film, Ayanna Dozier comments that the film was made at the height of the feminist sex wars, a conflict within the feminist movement regarding the validity of BDSM in a feminist context.[6] The film was shown at the Xenia women's cinema in Zurich, where it was billed as the "lesbian sado film".[7][8] In one showing of the film in Munich, the film was pulled from the projector by protestors.[9]
Accolades
[edit]In Women and the New German Cinema, Julia Knight describes it as a film which explores the liberating possibilities of sadomasochism, subverting audience expectations of what sadomasochism is like.[10] In New Queer Cinema, B. Ruby Rich described it as "deserving of instant cult status".[11]
In The Pleasure Threshold: Looking at Lesbian Pornography on Film, Cherry Smyth states that its imagery is "beyond sex", and that "like being offered an ice-cold, luscious fruit drink on a hot day, which you are forbidden to taste, this film encapsulates desire as death, as nothingness, and yet utter completeness".[12][13]
The director Peter Strickland has cited the film as a favourite[14] and one of his sources of inspiration for his film The Duke of Burgundy.[15] In a 2015 interview with Sight & Sound, he described it as “a very interesting [film], not really sexploitation at all, more like Chris Marker doing a female-female bondage film".[16]
References
[edit]- ^ Dozier, Ayanna. "Mano Destra + Kissy Suzuki Suck". Screen Slate. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
- ^ Nicky, Hamblin (September 1990). "Exploring Sexuality Anew" (PDF). Performance. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
- ^ Uebelmann, Cleo (1986). The Dominas - Mano Destra. Tübingen: Verlag Claudia Gehrke. ISBN 3887690389.
- ^ Woitschig, Britta Madeleine (24 April 2009). "Meshes of the Museum". textem.de. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ^ "Mano destra". Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Dozier, Ayanna. "Mano Destra + Kissy Suzuki Suck". Screen Slate. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
- ^ Kinemathek, Deutsche. "Film Restored – The Film Heritage Festival | Deutsche Kinemathek". www.deutsche-kinemathek.de. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
- ^ "Mano destra". Arsenal Filminstitut e.V. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
- ^ "oral history". sylviaschedelbauer.com. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
- ^ Knight, Julia (1992). Women and the new German cinema. London: Verso. pp. 166–168. ISBN 0-86091-352-X. OCLC 25412660.
- ^ Rich, B. Ruby (26 March 2013). New queer cinema: the director's cut. Durham. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-8223-5411-6. OCLC 818416587.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Smyth, Cherry (Spring 1990). "The Pleasure Threshold: Looking at Lesbian Pornography on Film". Feminist Review (34): 152–159. doi:10.2307/1395314. JSTOR 1395314.
- ^ Collective, The Feminist Review (2005-07-18). Feminist Review: Issue 34: Perverse Politics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-94034-9.
- ^ "All voters and votes: The 30 Best LGBT Films of All Time". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
- ^ "Peter Strickland: six films that fed into The Duke of Burgundy". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
- ^ Matheiu, Demetrios (March 2015). "Of Human Bondage". Sound & Sight. p. 48.
Further reading
[edit]- Cherry Smyth. The Pleasure Threshold: Looking at Lesbian Pornography on Film. Feminist Review, No. 34, Perverse Politics: Lesbian Issues (Spring, 1990), pp. 152–159 doi:10.2307/1395314