" Vénus a la Fourrure " (Venus in Fur) is yet another unsuccessful ROMAN POLANSKI film based on the French stage play which found success on Broadway in 2012. It was a similar situation with God of Carnage which Polanski filmed in English, simply calling it Carnage (Jodi Foster, Kate Winslet) I happened to see both pieces on Broadway and they were brilliant. Not so the filmed versions. These plays are basically plotless works relying heavily on personal opinion, philosophical ideas, rants and raves to outright quarrels. Live action in real time is of the essence.
Venus in Fur provides very little satisfaction despite good performances from Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric. As stated, this is a theatrical piece and Polanski films it as such, stuck in a Parisian theatre as the lone set. A theatre director is literally backed in a corner to give a late arrival an audition. This works, to an extent, for about 15 minutes. As the audition lengthens, our interest begins to wane despite some pretty risqué subjects of conversation from both the play rehearsal and real life of the two on stage. I must re-enforce that the film has NO REAL PLOT EXCEPT FOR TWO PERSONS IN AND OUT OF REHEARSAL!
The film is hardly the admirable, inventive even intelligent piece we witness on the stage. We are electrified in the theatre by the live action which becomes stale as a movie even with the two good performances. Polanski might as well have just filmed a stage production of the play as we get no more in the film, not expanded in any way to make it breathe and give it some life. I was left totally indifferent, certainly not at all entertained, by the Polanski filmed version. I just wanted it to end and have done with it.
Since CARNAGE didn't work for Polanski, why would he film Venus in Fur in the exact same manner. It truly puzzles! In any case, Venus in Fur was a disaster of a film like its sister play Carnage.
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