Venus in Fur

A young playwright, Thomas, has written an adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's 1870 novel Venus in Furs, the story of an obsessive adulterous relationship between a man and the mistress to whom he becomes enslaved. At the end of a long day in which the actresses he has auditioned fail to impress him, in walks Vanda, very late and seemingly clueless, and she convinces Thomas to give her a chance. As they perform scenes from Thomas's play, the lines between writer, actor, director, and character begin to blur. An exploration of gender roles and sexuality, Venus in Furis also a witty, twisting, unsettling look at the art of acting onstage and off.