An actress attempts to convince a director how she's perfect for a role in his upcoming production.
By expertly embellishing the theatrical, Polanski has made Venus in Fur thrillingly cinematic.
By the overwrought finale, there’s a strong sense that Venus In Fur is all fur and no kickers.
It’s theatrical but increasingly fascinating.
Polanski’s unavoidably stagy adaptation of David Ives’ celebrated Broadway play is an enjoyably witty two-hander, confined to its theatre setting, yet with much to say about gender roles in the world beyond.
Two great performances, but the material is dry and the outcome inevitable.
If the film never quite escapes its theatrical provenance and setting, it’s still a bracingly bumpy ride.
Rounded off with phallic symbolism and Alexandre Desplat’s playful score, the result may prove a little too theatrical for some, but when the players deliver it with such mischievous conviction, it’s difficult not to have fun.
Like his 2011 feature Carnage, Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur is adapted from a play (this time by David Ives). It is even more pared down and claustrophobic.
What follows is a witty, old-fashioned conversation piece blurring the lines between illusion and reality as the duo become spirited adversaries in a psychological battle for supremacy.
In Polanski’s hands, such meta-textual intrigue proves tedious when it becomes clear that the proto-masochistic relationship birthed in the original text becomes, via the film, a metaphor for the relationship between Polanski and anyone trying to justify his ongoing relevance.
The director's wife gains the whip hand in his smart adaptation of the erotic classic.
Cameo, Edinburgh from Friday May 30, 2014, until Thursday June 5, 2014. More info: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Friday June 13, 2014, until Monday June 16, 2014. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
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