Venus in Furs (1969)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Venus in Furs is arguably the best film prolific Spanish cult director Jess Franco ever made. It was one he released in his late 1960's period when he had noticeably more budget at his disposal and he was able to hire actors of the calibre of Klaus Kinski. The reason this film is so high up quality-wise in Franco's filmography though is that it combines this higher budget with many of the personal facets that would go on to make some of his later work so interesting. Essentially he became something of an auteur of erotica and in this flick he shows he knew how to do it well. Sexploitation was a genre that Franco would contribute dozens of films to but this is one of the ones where he took a lot more care.The story-line is about a jazz musician who finds the body of a beautiful dead woman washed up on the shore of a beach; she subsequently appears to him from beyond the grave and carries out a series of deadly revenges on the three individuals who killed her. To be honest though, the story-line isn't terribly important; it's more a means of taking us from A to B. What it serves to do is allow for Franco to indulge in arty cinematic devices such as colour filters, slow-motion, strange camera angles and of course copious zooms; while at the same time delivering the requisite erotic content. The latter is of a pretty classy calibre though, helped massively by the presence of the rather gorgeous Maria Rohm as the title character. Franco really photographs all scenes with her very well and her revenge scenes in particular are strikingly effective.Despite the title, this film only has a passing relevance to the famous 1870 Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch novel. The only connections seem to be that the title character is called Wanda and she is fond of wearing furs. The Italian director Massimo Dallamano made a direct adaption of the book – also called Venus in Furs and also released in 1969 - and it too is well worth seeking out. Franco's film was basically re-titled to surf the popularity that novel had at the time. Amusingly, the film blares out the vocal line 'Venus in Furs will be smiling' every time Wanda deals with another of her tormentors. The music in general is a jazz score composed by Manfred Mann which adds a significant amount of atmosphere and mood and compliments things ideally. I have read in more than one review here that the sound in general is completely unsynchronised and that it's basically all voice-over – strangely, even though I have seen this film twice, I didn't even notice this. I can only account for that by the film being so successfully trippy that it didn't even register with me. At the end of the day, like all Franco, this is not a film for all tastes although it's definitely one of his more plot-oriented and user-friendly. Whatever the case, for Euro-cult enthusiasts it ticks a lot of boxes.

Jimmy Logan (James Darren) finds a dead girl named Wanda on the beach. He also realizes she was killed by Percival (Dennis Price), Ahmed (Klaus Kinski) and Olga (Margaret Lee). Don't ask me HOW he knows--this movie doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Later on he has a girlfriend named Rita (Barbara McNair) and is happy--but then he sees a girl that looks just like Wanda...and becomes obsessed.I should have known better. Director Jesus Franco's movies are little more that soft core porno full of beautiful naked women. This is no exception. The plot makes little to no sense and its moves at a snails pace. With the sole exceptions of Darren and McNair the acting is just terrible (and badly dubbed). The "script" is thoroughly predictable and full of dialogue that makes little or no sense. Franco just seems interested in getting as much female nudity on the screen as possible--it doesn't seem to matter if it fits the plot! Also why he didn't he show any nudity on Darren? He's an attractive young guy and he IS the main character! This gets a 2 solely for Darren and McNair but this basically a boring soft core porno movie.

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.

Jess Franco made a hell of a lot of films over his vast career, and it's not surprising that most of them are trash. When speaking of his best films, it's usually The Diabolical Dr Z and this film; Venus in Furs that get mentioned, and there's a good reason for that! I can't say that this film is better than the fantastic Diabolical Dr Z myself, but it's certainly a great slice of Eurocult and I won't hesitate to say that Franco has outdone himself with this film! Venus in Furs is a sort of mixture of sleazy exploitation and, bizarrely, film noir. This does give the film a very odd tone, though it's made good use of. The film starts off in Istanbul and focuses on a trumpeter who finds himself in the middle of a mystery. While strolling on the beach one day, he comes across the washed up body of a woman. After studying her face, he realise that not only does he recognise her - he was there at the party where a group of people mutilated her! The trumpeter then decides to go to Rio, where he meets a singer named Rita; and bumps into the girl he found washed up on the beach...There are a few films called Venus in Furs - this being the only one that I've seen, though it would seem that this one is unrelated to the rest as it is not based on a novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Like a lot of Eurocult films, this one gets rather confusing at several points and occasionally you just have to go along with it - even if what you're seeing doesn't make a lot of sense. While this might be a huge flaw in some films, in this one it actually isn't, as even when the story isn't up to much; Franco ensures that the visuals are. Venus in Furs is a hugely trippy affair, and Franco pays a lot of attention to detail in most scenes and the fact that the film features a whole host of beautiful women certainly doesn't do it any harm either. The film boasts a very decent cast, with James Darren doing well in the lead role and getting support from beauties such as Barbara McNair, Maria Rohm and Margeret Lee; as well as from cult stars Dennis Price and the great Klaus Kinski. It all boils down to a decent conclusion, which works well within the context of the film. Overall, Venus in Furs is an excellent slice of sleaze and certainly comes recommended to fans of this kind of cinema!