Venus In Fur – Review

Writer-director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) is about to wrap up auditions for the day, disheartened that he cannot find an actress worthy of the complicated leading role at the heart of his edgy new play. The sudden and very late arrival of Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) wet, windswept and whimsical is hardly cause for hope. She`s bubbly, flighty and thoroughly odd: no fit at all for the part, or so it seems at first. But, as Vanda chatters her way into an audition, Thomas finds himself growing increasingly fascinated with her.

It`s tricky enough to get the complicated gender politics in Venus In Fur just right onstage: Ives` script and characters flirt constantly with combustible notions of control, sex, lust and sadomasochism. The constantly shifting nature of Thomas and Vanda`s relationship it dips in and out of reality once she convinces him to read the role of the male lead opposite her is ridiculously tough to pin down. In the first half of the film, Polanski gets quite a bit right. It`s easy to see why Thomas becomes so entranced with Vanda despite his less-than-positive first impressions of her brains and talent.

But Ives` script rests almost entirely on the twists in its second half, the stakes and tension increasing as the story takes unexpected turns into more surreal, challenging territory. It`s here where Polanski falters more. He pries away some of the more disturbing conclusions of the play, and thus loses some of its power. The explosive ending is divisive even in the theatre, but Polanski pushes that envelope further by portraying Vanda in a less-than-fearsome light.

In terms of the material they`re given, the two actors making up Polanski`s cast are very good. Amalric manages to keep Thomas from teetering over the brink into annoying, a delicate balance for a character who`s written as both very smart and incredibly self-centred. Seigner has so regal and powerful a screen presence that she`s not as convincing as she really ought to be in Vanda`s flightier aspect. But she`s deliciously imposing when it becomes clear just how fully in control of the entire situation Vanda really is.

Those who have seen a good production of Venus In Fur are likely to find themselves a mite chagrined by the subtle but significant changes wrought in Polanski`s film. The power balance changes, and not in a good way, which muddies the effect of a play that`s already geared to elicit complex, conflicting emotions from its audiences. For those who are coming to the film fresh, as it were, there`s just about enough on display here to hint at the ideas woven into Ives` characters even if it`s not quite as effective in communicating them as one might hope for.

Summary: An occasionally very good adaptation of a very difficult play.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Shawne Wang