#9) Venus in Fur, by Roman Polanski (2013)
Venus-Aphrodite was born of sea foam. Roman theology presents this watery goddess as essential to the genesis and balance of life. Her male counterparts, Vulcan and Mars, are exertive and combustible. Venus absorbs and tempers these male traits, mutually uniting the opposites of male and female in an affectionate way. Roman Polanski’s film draws upon two sources: David Ives’ New York set play, and the 1870 Austrian novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Ironically, for a person with the last name Masoch, the story deals with sadomasochism and female dominance. Roman Polanski seems to have found himself a mirror through this work, perhaps a template for him to delve into a dark confessional with his controversial sexual history. The film immediately opens with a sense of omnipotence; we are in the presence of a goddess, her point of view shot tracking down a Parisian sidewalk towards a theater. Venus looms over everything, her rainstorm falling upon the isolated box where a fiery...