Venus im Pelz

Pretty to look at with marvellous lakeside, mountain, woodland, seashore settings and not forgetting the delectable, Laura Antonelli. But that's pretty much all the plus points. The Leopold von Sacher-Masoch tale is a difficult one to get across at the best of times but the choice of lead actor is crucial and here Regis Vallee appears to not even understand his own role, let alone convey to us his feelings. It's not all his fault, the terrible jingly muzak doesn't help and nor does the slow pace. I guess it must have seemed a good idea to have voice over for passages from the book but when they are so inappropriately spoken over glossy clichéd scenes, it detracts and even, for me, denigrates the original work itself. Antonelli does her very best, ever ready to be seductive, loving, hateful and even violent but we just don't buy it. Jess Franco's movie of the same name that came out the same year is better but then it's Venus in Furs in name only! For anyone keen enough to try again with the theme, I recommend the 1994 film of the same name by Seyforth and Nieuwenhuijs.

This is an Italian adaption of the book of the same name. I haven't actually read the book myself, although I am very familiar with the seminal song 'Venus in Furs' by The Velvet Underground. So I had a basic idea that this story is about a sadomasochistic relationship between a couple – Severin and the 'whiplash girl-child' (Wanda). The song is of course a bona fide untouchable classic, the film somewhat less so. Nevertheless, it's still a stylish and effective slice of Eurotica.

It tells a tale about Wanda (Laura Antonelli) who is driven by her masochistic husband Severin into sexually dominating him. This entails her being blatantly unfaithful and treating him contemptuously. As time progresses he struggles with his own rules.

The movie benefits from the sure hand of director Massimo Dallamano who was responsible for two excellent later films the giallo What Have You Done to Solange? and the giallo-poliziotteschi crossover What Have They Done to your Daughters? Venus in Furs isn't in the same bracket as those but then it is a very different type of film. It's pretty playful tone-wise for the most part, with a cheerful lounge soundtrack. It also looks pretty good with some decent locations, while Antonelli is great to look at as well. It is fairly erotic with a lot of classy nudity but be warned it does also contain a pretty notorious moment where we are treated to the sight of a couple of horses banging each other. Its horses for courses if you can excuse the pun.

Overall, though, this is a pretty good erotic drama. Also it should not be confused with the Jesus Franco film of the same name, also from 1969, which is similarly impressive but has nothing whatsoever to do with the novel Venus in Furs.

'Venus In Furs' is a surprisingly good movie version of Sacher-Masoch's erotic classic of obsessive love. Updated to the present, which is obviously the 60s, director Massimo Dallamano (also responsible for the Helmut Berger 'Dorian Gray') manages to be quite faithful to the original story, and setting it in swinging Europe works very well. The beautiful Laura Antonelli (Fulci's 'The Eroticist') is well cast as the sensuous Wanda who is urged by her masochistic husband Severin (Regis Vallee) on to greater and greater heights of betrayal and sadistic game playing. Their passionate relationship takes them both to places they never anticipated and the movies final scene is neither predictable nor unsatisfying. This is an above average movie of its type. Fans of Eurosleaze like Franco's 'Succubus' and Berruti's 'Killer Nun' will dig it the most. I enjoyed it a lot.

If you've come across this is it's probably because you may have heard the term Venus in Furs somewhere and wanted to figure out what it's all about. First off, this version is not the one most people think of. That would be the one starring Klaus Kinski and not at all related. This is not that one but an Italian made film made in the late 60s and subsequently banned for explicit sexual content. Eventually released in the 70s However, this film, as it turns out, is an excellent, sexual fantasy, psychological thriller of sorts. I think we might call it an erotic thriller or drama.

In the beginning the two characters agree to explore certain sexual fetishes in their marriage. Eventually things start to spiral out of control in their role playing. Things get really ugly and violent both in the real world and fantasy world (which is shown in vivid detail). By the end of the film all the wheels have come flying off the bus and its more or less meyham all around. The ending is a surprise, which I would not give away. The ending is what makes the film great.

All told it is a very good film and one I'm sure you will remember for a long time. A real hidden gem.

There are a few somewhat disturbing parts. One relating to two horses, it's just hard to watch. Another is a fantasy scene which depicts a rape. So be warned. I do not reccomend for anyone who is a victim of sexual assault.

The 1969 "Venere in pelliccia" could have been Laura Antonelli's big break, had it been released in Italy. It would have predated "Malizia" by four years, but due to censorship problems, it came out in other European markets only. Finally, in 1975, in Italy as well – but in a heavily edited and changed version. More on that later.

The lake Tegernsee in Upper Bavaria: Writer Severin's leisure is interrupted when the gorgeous model Wanda arrives at his hotel. He can spy on her through the wooden wall between their rooms, and quickly falls in love with her. After a rather old-school advance, they get together. Severin then discloses his sexual fantasies: In his view a man is defined by his childhood experiences and traumas. For him, this means he has to suffer in a relationship, both physically and mentally. Wanda on the other hand is used to cheat on her partners, but she falls in love with Severin and agrees to play along in his games. This means for her to have sexual encounters with other men, enforced and watched by Severin. But after a couple of weeks, during their honeymoon in Spain, Wanda is sick of it and the relationship spirals downwards into disaster…

This may sound very plot- and dialog- driven, but it actually isn't. Characterisation and motivations are explained very quickly and mostly through thoughts (in voice-overs). It's up to the viewer to interpret the rest, although there are instances where this doesn't work out completely. Especially regarding Wanda's actions I was not convinced throughout. At one point she is obviously sick of it all, beats Severin down and we see him hurt and bruised. But in the next scene, the bruises are gone (some time must have passed) and they are back in their role playing. Why would she stay with him after that, given that she is a nymphomanic, self-confident dream girl and can do whatever she wants? But maybe that's just me who can't see that, as said, it's up to the respective viewer. A little bit of explanation would have helped, especially since this is a rather short film, not reaching the 90 minutes mark.

Problems like these are easily forgiven, as this is a fantastic film to watch. The visuals are incredibly well- made, every single scene is shot perfectly. The locations are beautiful, too, especially the lake and meadows of the first half. The score supports the plot perfectly. A fascinating mix of 60ies lounge-piano and wild, psychedelic flower-power feel.

And oh boy, this movie is hot. Incredibly hot. For the time of production, it goes surprisingly far, but this is still the time when you couldn't show all and had to be creative. The amount of nudity (including full frontal) and sex scenes performed by Laura Antonelli is absolutely incredible, and the director and camera knew what they were doing. Tasteful and absolutely arousing.

Speaking of the actors, Régis Vallée performs decently and is convincing, although he may seem a little bit too passive towards the end of the film. Laura on the other hand puts her heart and soul into her role. She steals most of the scenes with Vallée, and definitely not just for appearances.

Now let's speak of the Italian version of 1975. You can see by the way it was made that the censors have had problems with two things: The sado-masochistic aspect of Severin wanting to suffer, and some of the sex scenes were too explicit. So they brought in Vallée to shoot a background story: Severin is in jail (and later in court), being accused of the murder of that guy Bruno (they shot some extra scenes with that actor, too). Severin tells the story of his relationship to Wanda and how it could come to the murder. It is terribly boring. The 1969 scenes are arranged differently (mixing Bavaria and Spain scenes at random), and strongly edited. The voice-overs, all the "suffering" dialogs, all gone. It's not true the sex scenes were all cut, many are completely intact. Others were shortened, for the scene at the lake, when Severin satisfies Wanda orally, they even added a filter on the right side of the picture in order to cloak what's going on. And the horse sex scene is gone, too, luckily. The film was re-dubbed completely and shows Severin as a normal guy who falls for Wanda, who is the one to openly cheat on him and cause them to break up which leads to the murder. Anyway, the 1975 one is a total waste of time and should you decide to watch it, you should do it before you watch the 1969 version.

Overall, this is a very good film and an absolute must-see for fans of Laura Antonelli (although I didn't like her dyed hair and the strong make-up too much). The sexual liberality is surprising, sometimes shocking, clearly the film was way ahead of the times. Superb cinematography and soundtrack, convincing actors and a controversial subject – but go for the 1969 version please.