The original French title of this film is "La Venus a la Fourrure" and it was directed by Roman Polanski and based on the play by David Ives.
Thomas, played by Mathieu Almaric, is casting a play based on the German novel Venus is Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. He's having a difficult time filling the part of Vanda.
There's a thunderstorm and suddenly a woman enters the theater. This woman who also happens to be named Vanda, played by Emmanuelle Seigner, has come late to audition for the play. Thomas has had a difficult day and resists her but he finally relents and agrees to do the reading with her.
I don't want to say too much more about the plot or I might spoil it for you but the lines become blurred between fiction and reality. I found it quite interesting and compelling. A film with only 2 actors and no fancy special effects. How about that!!
Most recently, Roman Polanski directed The Ghost Writer based on the novel by Robert Harris. They both collaborated on writing the screenplay. This film is quite a thriller. It stars Ewan McGregor as the ghost writer character who works with a former British prime minister (played by the handsome, charismatic Pierce Brosnan) on his memoirs. Olivia Williams play his wife Ruth and Kim Cattrall plays his assistant Amelia. Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Hutton, Jim Belushi and the very mature Eli Wallach (this was one of his last few roles before he died in 2014) also appear in this film I found this film quite spell-binding and kept me wondering almost until the end.
Some quotes from this film:
"And the Lord hath smitten him and delivered him into a woman's hands."---from the Book of Judith in the Bible
"Your Venus seems as well-thumbed as your book .Is she faithful?"---Vanda
"To love and be loved.
Ah, what bliss.
Yet there exists a greater joy.
The torment of that woman's kiss.
Who makes of me her slave.
Her cur, her toy, I speak of her,
My goddess, my dictator, my Venus in fur."---poem quoted in this film
"The love of fur is innate. It's a passion that Nature gives us all. To caress a thick, soft fur. That peculiar tingle, that electricity."--Thomas as Kushemski
"Life makes us what we are in an unforeseen instant."---Thomas as Kushemski
"Poor? She taught me the most precious thing. ...That nothing is more sensuous than pain. Nothing more pleasurable than degradation."---Thomas as Kushemski
"You are quite unique, Herr Kushemski. If I were you, I'd be careful. Your ideal woman may be crueler than you care for."---Vanda
"Nothing is crueler than a woman's infidelity."---Thomas as Kushemski
"In our society, a women's only power is through a man. I'd like to see what woman will be when she becomes man's equal. When she becomes herself. Little Vanda's way ahead of her times."---Vanda
"You sold your soul for alliteration."---Vanda
"I give you all power over me, eternally. Unconditionally. Do with me what you will. Dominate me. Beat me if you like."---Thomas as Kushemski
"Nothing like some quiet copulation to help you relax. But a voice rumbles in the back of your mind, calling for something else."---Vanda
"Any other director would have jumped me by now."---Vanda
Here are some scenes from this film:
Here is the trailer:
