Trailer for Roman Polanski’s Venus in Fur is brimming with sexual tension

Roman Polanski is a director I cannot quite figure out. I mean, the guy has directed everything from noir like CHINATOWN to horror like ROSEMARY’S BABY with all sorts of distinct projects in between. His most recent film, VENUS IN FUR, adapts an award-winning play, much like his previous film, the excellent CARNAGE.

Unlike CARNAGE, VENUS IN FUR is subtitled as the film was produced and performed in French. Starring Polanski’s wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, and QUANTUM OF SOLACE’s Mathieu Amalric, the movie follows an erotic standoff between a playwright and the woman auditioning for a role in his latest project.

Alone in a Paris theater after a long day of auditioning actresses for the lead role in his new play, writer-director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) complains about the poor caliber of talent he has seen. As Thomas is about to leave the theater, Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) bursts in, a whirlwind of erratic—and, it turns out, erotic—energy. When Thomas agrees, reluctantly, to let her try out for the part, he is stunned and captivated by her transformation. Not only is Vanda a perfect fit (even sharing the character’s name), but she apparently has researched the role exhaustively—down to buying props, reading source materials and learning every line by heart. The likeness proves to be much more than skin-deep. As the extended “audition” builds momentum, Thomas moves from attraction to obsession… Adapted from the Tony Award-winning play by David Ives.

While some of you may scoff at subtitled fare, VENUS IN FUR looks like one hell of a fine acted film. Like some of the best underseen Roman Polanski projects like DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, VENUS IN FUR relies on a lot of talking to get across the drama and tension. It takes a lot of acting talent to pull of a project like this and Seigner and Amalric look like they pull it off beautifully. Hopefully Polanski gets another big studio project someday because he still has one hell of an eye.

VENUS IN FUR hits theaters on June 20th.