Venus in Fur / Sept 8 – Last Chance!

VENUS IN FUR
Venus in Fur is a sharp, sexy comedy performed by two superb and superbly in-tune actors.
–Slate

A brusque and haughty director in a rundown Paris theater, after a long day of auditions, laments that he cannot find an actress with the chops to star in his new play. Just as he is about to leave the theater, Vanda bursts in, a whirlwind of erratic – and, it turns out, erotic – energy. As the extended “audition” builds momentum, the balance of power tilts: she becomes the one in charge, while he’s reduced to a whimpering wreck. Roman Polanski’s mischievous meditation on sex, gender and desire stars Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner (who cautions that the film is not a veiled portrait of her real-life marriage to the notorious filmmaker).

Venus in Fur was nominated for 5 Cesars (France’s Oscar) and Polanski won for Best Director. (96 min)

• Philadelphia Inquirer: Wickedly smart and wickedly playful, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of David Ives’ Tony-nominated Venus in Fur works on so many levels, it’s almost dizzying.

• Los Angeles Times : It is a comic, cerebral romp for a long time before it hits you with its best shot — some Polanski-worthy darkness.

• Village Voice: Polanski orchestrates this cat-and-mouse game with devilish delight, dancing around Ives’s play as if it were a pagan bonfire, jabbing at it with his figurative pitchfork.

• The New Yorker: Polanski conjures his most graceful work in years.

Mon, Sept 8
Venus in Fur 7:00 @ Bear’s Place