Venus in Fur
(“La Vénus à la fourrure")

— I’m always a little fascinated by movies about plays. The way “Venus in Fur” (Netflix) blurs the lines between the play and “real” world, and even between the players’ roles as control shifts and the director becomes the one directed, is particularly intriguing as issues of love and power surface. The resemblance of the main character to a younger Polanski is striking and knowing Vanda/Venus is Polanski’s wife adds another level to the thing. Even the idea of a movie about a play translated from the English to the French, about a German novel, is a bit convoluted, so it’s no wonder that, by the time the film was over and Thomas had surrendered himself, it was all pretty chilling but a little familiar too.

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[2013. 96 min. Directed by Roman Polanski. Starring Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric.]
http://www.timeout.com/us/film/venus-in-fur