The Roman goddess Venus mostly focused on love, beauty, and sex, depending on how various artists employed her. For Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who wrote Venus in Fur in 1870, she spawned generations of S&M, from his novel about obsession and mockery, all the way through 50 Shades of Gray. Somewhere in-between is Venus in Fur—an […]
Venus in Fur
Posted inCulture
Passing the Audition
Domination and power in Polanski’s Venus in Fur
Roman Polanski’s new film is set in a Paris theater, with a cast of two. Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) is wrapping up auditions for his new play when Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) comes out of the rain. She’s coarse and slatternly—the exact opposite of what Thomas is looking for in his leading lady—but once she begins to […]