L 39-histoire De Richard O. -2007- Ok.ru May 2026

What makes L’Histoire de Richard O. unique—and deeply unsettling—is the role of the director. Odoul does not intervene when Richard stops eating, sleeping, or taking his medication. At one point, Richard collapses in the street, and the camera keeps rolling. Odoul later admitted in interviews that he intentionally did not call for medical help to avoid "breaking the aesthetic of the film."

This approach has been called everything from "cinéma vérité pushed to its extreme" to "exploitation disguised as art." French film critic Jean-Michel Frodon wrote that the film is "unwatchable not because of its content, but because of its director's silence." Richard O., after the film was released, reportedly felt betrayed, claiming he had not fully understood the project due to his mental state at the time of filming.

Let’s be honest. Finding a 2007 French arthouse film isn’t easy. It’s not on Netflix. It’s not on Hulu. It’s barely on Wikipedia.

Enter OK.ru (Odnoklassniki). For the uninitiated, OK.ru is a social network popular in Russia and former Soviet states. But it has become an accidental archive for cinephiles. Users upload hundreds of rare, out-of-print, or forgotten films.

Watching Richard O. there was surreal. The video quality was 480p—which somehow added to the grimy, VHS-era aesthetic of the film. The comments section was a mix of Russian literary analysis, confused French viewers, and one guy asking for the director's cut.

Is it legal? That’s a grey area. But for film preservation? It feels like the digital equivalent of finding a bootleg VHS in a flea market. l 39-histoire de richard o. -2007- ok.ru

Very little is known about Damien Deroubaix. He is not listed on Wikipedia in French or English. In fact, the most comprehensive information about him exists on obscure film forums and blogspot pages from the late 2000s.

What we can piece together:

Deroubaix cited influences such as Lars von Trier (for psychological rawness), Catherine Breillat (for intellectual sexuality), and Michael Haneke (for cold, detached violence). His style in Richard O. involves long takes, static cameras, and naturalistic lighting—techniques that make the film feel uncomfortably real.

The film presents itself as a simple chronicle. The director, Damien Odoul, meets Richard O., a middle-aged man living on the margins of society in Paris. Richard is articulate, charismatic, and deeply unwell. He believes he is on a secret mission, that he is being filmed by hidden cameras, and that he must record everything.

The documentary follows Richard as he wanders the streets, delivers manic monologues to strangers, and interacts with the filmmaker. There is no narrator, no medical expert, and no rescue. The audience is trapped inside Richard’s fragmented reality—hearing his voices, seeing his paranoia, and witnessing his gradual, terrifying unraveling. What makes L’Histoire de Richard O

There is a specific kind of magic—or madness—that comes from falling down a rabbit hole of obscure cinema. You start looking for one thing, and three hours later, you’re squinting at a pixelated French film from 2007 on a Russian social media site.

That is exactly how I spent my Tuesday night with L’Histoire de Richard O. (The Story of Richard O.).

If you haven’t heard of it, you aren’t alone. Directed by Damien Odoul, this film is the bastard child of European art-house angst and psychological horror. And the only place I could find it streaming? OK.ru.

Forget Fifty Shades. This is a much darker, more nihilistic look at sexual obsession. The film follows Richard O., a solitary writer living in a sterile Parisian apartment. He picks up a mysterious woman named Julie, and what begins as a sadomasochistic affair quickly spirals into psychological disintegration.

The tagline should be: "Just because you say 'yes' doesn't mean you know what you're saying yes to." Deroubaix cited influences such as Lars von Trier

The film is stark, violent, and deliberately slow. It is less about the physical acts and more about the erosion of identity. Richard loses his grip on reality, and the audience is dragged down with him. It is not a "good time" movie. It is an experience.

In the vast landscape of French erotic and romantic drama, L'Histoire de Richard O. (released in 2007) remains a relatively obscure yet compelling entry. Directed by Damien Odoul, this film is a sequel or a spiritual continuation of the controversial 1975 classic Histoire d'O (Story of O), though it takes the premise in a radically different direction—focusing not on a submissive woman, but on a man navigating the complexities of desire, power, and emotional surrender.

For years, the film was difficult to find on mainstream streaming platforms. However, thanks to the Russian social media and video hosting site OK.ru (Odnoklassniki), the movie has found a second life among cinephiles searching for rare European art-house films. This article explores the film’s plot, themes, critical reception, and how OK.ru became an unexpected archive for cinematic rarities like L'Histoire de Richard O.

This template and approach should help you craft a useful and informative review for "L'histoire de Richard O." (2007) based on your understanding or viewing experience.