'Venus in Fur' is alluringly creepy but wears thin
Roman Polanski鈥檚 鈥淰enus in Fur,鈥� based on the inexplicably acclaimed聽play by David Ives, is right up the director鈥檚 perfervid alley. Set in聽an empty Paris theater, it鈥檚 about an unplanned audition for a stage聽adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch鈥檚 1870 novel 鈥淰enus in Furs.鈥澛�
Thomas (Mathieu Amalric), the director, is about to head home to his聽girlfriend when an actress, the hyperactive Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner),聽barges in from the rainy streets,聽apologizing for being late. She proceeds聽to wangle, browbeat, and seduce Thomas into an extended audition that聽morphs into a reality-fantasy game of sexual politics past and present.聽
Polanski, who co-wrote the film with Ives, has put his personal stamp聽on it: Seigner, who is excellent as the temptress, is his real-life wife, and聽Amalric has been made up to resemble Polanski to a truly eerie degree. The film has a creepy allure but, as movies featuring full-bore聽sexual gamesmanship often do, it wears thin. Grade:聽C+ (Unrated.)
