Venus in Furs

Scarecrow-88

Jesús Franco fans consider "Venus in Furs" his grand achievement. It concerns the surreal odyssey of a jazz trumpeter who falls in love with the seductive spirit of a murdered young woman, Wanda(Maria Rohm)at the hands of three bourgeoisie types, Ahmed(Klaus Kinski), Kapp(Dennis Price), and Olga(Margaret Lee)who enjoy mixing violence with kink. Jimmy Logan(James Darren) discovers Wanda's body floating in the ocean becoming instantly attracted to her. Jimmy is a troubled soul who has found displeasure with his trumpet, even considering quiting his occupation as a musician. The desire and passion is missing, that is until a spark ignites when he finds a woman eerily similar to the dead woman he discovered. That is indeed the spirit of Wanda, returned to get revenge against those who left her for dead after their game of rough sex goes awry. Or, is anything we see even real, or just a series of images and stories flashing through the dreams of Jimmy, concocted at the moment of his death? What we do know is that Jimmy's lover, singer Rita(Barbara McNair)realizes that her man is falling for another, and, despite her pleas for his love, knows their relationship may never recover. Like those Wanda returns to seek revenge, Jimmy is yet another casualty, desiring something he can not obtain.

That's the best way I have to describe this film which uses the image of the lovely Maria Rohm, often partially naked, breasts uncovered, underneath a fur coat and wig, as a haunting tool towards those who long to embrace her. Director Jesús Franco admits that his main objective was to tell a story about a troubled musician and his love life with a lover of a different race. Producers pushed for the whole "Venus in Furs" idea. He also mentions in an interview that it wasn't his idea to edit those repeated images of Wanda to her victims, over and over, repeating throughout, calling it "gratuituous." I think he does accomplish the idea that this trumpeter is at the moment of death reliving past occurrences and possible desires that were just out of reach. Every kind of visual trick is used, color schemes, slow-motion, penetrating zooms into faces, disorienting picture techniques as Jimmy runs for Wanda, and some very unusual uses of the dark and light. The settings for the film(..Jesús Franco reflects that he shot in several places like Rome and Istanbul)are stunning and bring an atmosphere needed for such an erotic fantasy. The beach front is especially put to striking use. Attractive leads and an overwhelming melancholy and exuberant spirit in equal measure. I felt Jesús Franco achieves his goal regarding the musician and his difficulty separating the real from unreal by placing him within such a setting as the lively nature of Rio, a carnival with a people embarking on a journey of joy as he struggles to find his way. As odd as the death sequences were, they made sense to me this time around unlike my previous viewing..a desire for such an unattainable beauty can haunt you to the point of death.

score 8/10

Scarecrow-88 27 September 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1952307/