Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

violawillowcabin Roman Polanski's "Venus in Fur" (should be plural, I think) is a wonderful movie which riveted this viewer from start to finish. It is the movie "La Vénus à la Fourrure" with English subtitles. It contains the essence of the novel by Sacher-Masoch within the play by David Ives as adapted for the screen by David Ives and Roman Polanski. The script is great. The acting is fabulous. This movie, containing much irony, much satire, yet retains within it a loyalty to the original novel, "Venus in Furs" by Leopold Sacher-Masoch, which in itself is a riveting but deadly serious portrayal of gender relations in a dominance- submission context. Emmanuelle Seigner plays Vanda Jourdain, an aspiring but so far unsuccessful actress. Mathieu Amalric plays Thomas Novachek, an intellectual playwright who has written a play adapting the Sacher-Masoch novel, and now is attempting to direct his play. He has spent the day unsuccessfully auditioning actresses for the part of Vanda Von Dunayev. When Novachek is completely ready to call it a day, Vanda Jourdain enters the theater and somehow convinces Novachek to let her audition for the role. She also convinces him to play the part of Severin (the submissive). In fact, the audition becomes a rehearsal of the play. One of the interests in watching the movie is wondering how much of the character of Severin is part of the character of the playwright Novachek himself. And I think even more significant is wondering how much of the character of Vanda Von Dunayev (the dominant) is part of the character of the real life Vanda Jourdain. It's ambiguous. And therein lies its fascination. (This is the first review that I have done for IMDb.com. I don't know whether I've said too much or not.)

evanston_dad "Venus in Fur" is Roman Polanski's mostly successful screen version of the hit Broadway play with a dynamite conceit. A cocky playwright and director is auditioning actresses for a new play. In comes a flighty eccentric who he at first dismisses but who over the course of the story teaches him a little something not only about the character he wrote but about women in general. It's sort of a nightmare version of the Pygmalion myth, in which the creator's creation comes to life, but this time she's not willing to be submissive.The film's biggest flaw is that Emmanuelle Seigner, despite giving a terrific performance, is just too old for the role. This wouldn't necessarily have to be a detriment by the time the play ends, but it doesn't make sense that she's as old as she is at the beginning before some of the play's twists have fallen into place. And Polanski opts to change the ending, doing away with the simple but effective ending of the stage version and instead leaving things on a much more ambiguous note. I preferred the more simple ending, and think it would have gone farther toward making Seigner's age less of an overall issue.But aside from those criticisms, "Venus in Fur" is a fun romp of a movie, and probably about as cinematic as a two-character play set entirely on an empty stage could be.Grade: A-

Red_Identity I fund myself sort of dozing off at certain scenes in the film. Whether it was due to a failure of the film or that I was just really tired when i saw it, is anyone's guess. But I had still enjoyed most of it, and once the final act came on, I knew I was watching something special. The performances are exquisite, especially Seigner who I'm sure people who've seen the play will be more than delighted. The final ten minus take on this really dark tone that's completely enthralling, and I should've known where the film was heading. By the time I did, I immediately wanted to rematch the film for more nuances, and as it is right now, I'm sure I will in he near future. Really well- done film.

jdesando "She taught me the most valuable thing in the world." Thomas (Matthew Amalric)"And what did she teach you?" Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner)" That nothing is more sensual than pain. That nothing is more exciting than degradation." ThomasRoman Polanski's Venus in Fur, adapted from Leopold Van Sacher-Masoch's novel, Venus in Furs, is a two hander with a first-time stage director and adapter, Thomas (Polanski), and an actress (Seigner, Polanski's wife) trying out for a part in his play at an old Parisian theater. It's as raw a film as it is delicate. He's at the end of a long audition day with women who don't fit the part, and she straggles in when he's ready to go, in no mood for her tardiness or her lack of sophistication, much less her bondage outfit with dog collar. This time pain hardly seems sensual, until Vanda pulls out all the personality stops by eventually auditioning him.As in the play of life itself, nothing is as it seems; as in Polanski's other worlds, identity is a matter of power. She challenges him about his misconception of her talent (she's made for the part—even has the character's name) and proceeds to take a dominant role in acting and interpreting. In other words, the tables turn while woman takes the traditionally male aggressive role and he becomes her slave and even takes her part. When she ties him to a gigantic phallic cactus, the absurdity is painless, a testimony to imaginative stagecraft and pleasant Freud.Polanski, never afraid to deal with strong women in his films (Tess and Carnage come to mind immediately), as well as the real-life tragedy of his wife's murder, places Vanda prominently in each of her frames; his surrogate, Thomas, even looks like Polanski's younger self. Thus, the film becomes a convoluted feminist tome while it also comments on the relationship between actors and their directors. Whatever it all may mean about Roman Polanski's personal relationships with women, it is a witty 96 minutes of repartee and gamesmanship, where roles are fluid, both with characters and actors.The pain of his self revelations, which she forces him to see, turns out to be a pleasure for a playwright directing for the first time and facing an actress gifted and formidable. Both actors, by the way, are exemplary."It's 'a little love' you suggest? No, it's the power that interests you." Thomas