La Vénus à la fourrure

After a long day of castings for the female lead of his stage adaptation of the novella Venus in Fur by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, a Paris theater director (Mathieu Amalric) is about to throw in the towel. None of those applying for the role correspond to his ideas. Then Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) suddenly turns up. She comes across as vulgar and uneducated and seems to embody everything that he detests. He only lets her audition very reluctantly. What now begins is a fight of words, gazes and bodies, a game of power and powerlessness, a battle of the sexes. In this chamber drama with only two characters, Amalric looks astonishingly similar to a young Polanski in his role. (bik)