A new Roman Polanski film used to be a big deal, briefly commercially in the 80s, but always on the art house circuit. However, his latest film has been awarded one solitary showing in Brighton at 11am on a Monday morning. Whether that is because the director is out of fashion, or whether it is the risky subject matter, I’m not sure.
Similar to his last work Carnage, Venus in Fur is a filmed stage play, that does nothing to hide its roots. Mathieu Almaric plays Thomas, a director of an upcoming play. He is about to leave the theatre after a day of auditions, when an actress Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) turns up. She persuades him to stay to see her work and they start acting out the play.
The rest of the movie is taken up with that two person rehearsal which becomes more and more intense, and when the full scope of the S&M nature of the play is revealed, more and more uncomfortable to watch. After a while it starts to become difficult to separate the times that they are reciting the script of the play and the times that they are talking as themselves. You know that a twist is coming and you could probably work out what it would be, but it is delivered expertly.
Not an easy watch, but the performances of the two leads make it a worthwhile experience.
Rating 6.5 out of 10