Venus im Pelz (1969)

Venus im Pelz: Directed by Massimo Dallamano. With Laura Antonelli, Régis Vallée, Loren Ewing, Renate Kasché. Based on the infamous novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch this fine film follows the perverted passions of a young couple as Severin watches the beautiful Wanda writhing naked amongst furs. His disturbing peeping tomism triggers off a whirlpool of emotions due to a childhood episode which punishes voyeurism with pain.

“This is an Italian adaption of the book of the same name. I havenu0026#39;t actually read the book myself, although I am very familiar with the seminal song u0026#39;Venus in Fursu0026#39; by The Velvet Underground. So I had a basic idea that this story is about a sadomasochistic relationship between a couple – Severin and the u0026#39;whiplash girl-childu0026#39; (Wanda). The song is of course a bona fide untouchable classic, the film somewhat less so. Nevertheless, itu0026#39;s still a stylish and effective slice of Eurotica.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 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 isnu0026#39;t in the same bracket as those but then it is a very different type of film. Itu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, 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.”