VENUS IN FUR
AUDITION HERE
No! Someone like that doesn't exist!
A young woman, sexy, expressive, of classic education
and some spark of brains...
No one is able to pronounce "inextricable" without vocal coaching.
Listen...
Honey, back then a woman of Wanda's age
already had a husband, five kids and tuberculosis.
She was a woman.
Today they all talk like kids on helium:
"Hey, that's freaky,
absolutely phat, ey!"
I only saw 35 chicks,
dressed like hookers or dikes.
I would make a better Wanda.
I'd only need a dress and some stockings. Hello?
Honey?
Damn! Hello?
Knock, knock!
Am I too late?
Fuck, I'm too late.
Fuck it. - "Venus in Fur"? They're all gone.
I'm sorry, I came from the other side of Paris.
Cell batteries are dead and my heel got stuck in a ventilation grille.
Then this creep in the subway... Why am I telling you this?
He rubbed himself against me all the way. Then the thunderstorm.
Fuck it! It's not my day!
Nutty fucking shit!
There's Valium in the meds cabinet. Should I...
It's ok. It's always the same. Thank you Lord for making my life easy.
By the way: I am Vanda Jordan.
Vanda?
There you go. I even have the right name.
Or do you know a lot of Vandas?
I'm perfect for that role! But the train got stuck
while someone was trying to fuck me from behind. Who are you?
Thomas Novachek. - Pleasant.
Hey, one moment... aren't you the author?
Yes... no... I adapted it for the stage.
So you're the director too? - Certainly!
I love your plays. The ones I know. "Anatomy of Shadows"...
Awesome, I read it twice. - That's no play of mine.
I'm so dumb. I meant the other one.
That's embarassing.
Anyway. This play is marvellous. At least what I read of it.
Quite hot. Sexy I would say.
Erotic, if someone's into submission and stuff like that.
Leather and collar is usually not my style.
I am more low-key.
But it helps me getting into the role.
The play is about sadomasochism, isn't it?
Not quite. It takes place in 1870.
Got it! That doesn't really look 1870ish.
No. - But maybe they already dressed
like that back then? - Who knows?
I got a photo and a CV. - Thank you.
Where is it? Ah, there you are.
Thanks.
It's a bit short, but I am good and would be perfect for that role.
They say I've been awesome playing Hedda Gabler.
Theater at the Urinal? I must have missed that venue's last season.
Did you have an appointment? - Yes, 14:15 o'clock.
I'm a bit late, I know.
Vanda who? - Jordan, Vanda.
I'm always asked: "Is that a stage name?"
I can't find you on that list.
Really? My agent told me that everything's arranged.
Am I really not on that list? 14:15? - Please...
Fuck! Thanks again oh Lord. Well...
Now that I'm here... - Wait, what are you doing?
I even have a costume!
No.
Just a sec, I've got an awesome dress... - Nonessential!
What? You won't let me audition? - No, I won't let you audition.
But we could try.
No one's here to play your partner. - So I'll play it with you.
Would be an honor to play it with the author.
Adaptationer. - That would be cool.
To play it with the adaptationer. - Stop it!
To be honest Mademoiselle... - Vanda.
We're looking for someone a bit different.
What are you looking for? - Someone with a bit more...
I see. Save your troubles. Someone unlike me.
I'm too small, too tall, too old, too young. My CV is too short.
I got it.
Listen... - This really gets on me!
It's not that bad. - It's not fair.
This really gets on me.
After a fucking day like that...
There will be new auditions soon.
But I'm here now. So I won't have to come back.
Listen Vanda. I had a hard day.
Only blanks auditioned. One with braces.
It would be a bad moment. I need to relax
and I am awaited for dinner. - For dinner, right?
When I'm relaxed it's going to be better.
Thanks for coming. I salute your awesome costume.
We'll meet soon. - I doubt that, but thanks.
You seen to be nice. It's just that silly fucking job.
Not to mention the 30 Euros spent for that fucking dress.
Doesn't it look like 1800 something? - Yes, just like 18... something.
That fits. All the way Vanda.
A loose dress because they all despised their asses back then.
That's a misconception. Women back then... - Look how the dress suits me!
Be nice!
Yes! - Thank you!
The line broke...
No!
No, I'm talking to someone who just entered.
I'll buy Sushi on my way home, ok?
Would you help me with that?
Thomas Novachek himself
will speak the dialogue with me! - That won't make it easier for you.
I'm not an actor. - You're perfect.
Ideal for the role of Kowalski. - Kusiemski!
You are Kusiemski. - Not quite.
At your service Sir.
Where do we start? You decide.
First scene.
Got your dialogue?
It's a little worn.
Who gave you the complete text? - I don't know.
My agent. - How did he obtain it?
What's the problem? Is it top secret? Ain't I supposed to see it?
Never mind.
Did you read it? - Yes, I ran over it on the train.
I got that is it based on something. Maybe Lou Reed's song "Venus in Furs"?
It's based on an austrian novel, "Venus in Furs"
by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.
I bet you read it in austrian!
That might be.
The book caused a scandal in 1870.
No wonder. Essentially it's sado-maso-porn.
It's not. - You don't consider it pornographic?
Not at all! Considering the fact that it was written in medieval times...
"Venus in Furs" is a most beautiful love-story, a true gem in world literature.
Really? For me it's porn.
Being an actress I'm familiar with sadomasochism.
"Masochism" stems from "Sacher-Masoch", because of that book.
Masochism, Masoch, I should have recognized that.
So he gave a name to sadomasochism. Cool.
That was not his aim. - Of course.
He thought he was writing something serious, but all others called it porn.
And you transcribed from him. - Adapted!
I invented dialogs and situations.
A lot of me is in there. - Brilliant!
Where does it take place?
It takes place in a tavern
in a secluded part of Austria-Hungary.
Austria-Hungary... Please help me.
It's complicated. - So it's a marvellous tavern?
Yes, hot springs for rich people.
Extravagant. As the curtain rises
Kusiemski is reading in his room and drinks his morning coffee.
Then: knock, knock. Entrance Wanda.
And that's "symbolic" for the character? That he is reading?
There are still people left who read. Actually real books made of paper.
Even today. - Ouch! Bull's eye.
So, this guy... What's his name? Sevran, Savrine...
Severin von Kusiemski.
Exactly? What's he like? What tics does he have?
Give me some adjectives... something!
Rich, idler, typical for that time, smart, well-travelled, educated...
Intellectual. - If you prefer it that way.
"If you prefer it that way"! Awesome! When did I hear that the last time?
I don't know... - So he's distinguished, like you.
Aren't we going to talk about her? - I know her inside out,
but if you want.
In many ways she's a typical woman of her time
despite the principles she pretends to.
Despite what? - The principles she pretends to.
At first she seems accurate, self-confident, cultivated...
Duh! What else? Something I don't already know!
Something...? It's ok. Doesn't matter.
I'm alright!
May I change the lightning?
What's wrong with it? - A bit exaggerated, don't you think?
Make yourself at home.
Isn't it better like that?
Not bad. - Wait.
I wouldn't know which button to hit.
Right.
It's much better now.
That's the sofa I assume?
Yes, that's the sofa.
A desk.
The book she's returning to him.
A postcard... brilliant!
What's that?
A phallic symbol? - Leftovers of the last play.
A belgian production...
The western "Ringo" as a musical...
Where should I stand?
Wherever you like.
Not that centered.
More to the left or to the right, seen from the audience? - More left!
Should we read the dialogue in advance?
No, let's do it! Until where?
Until the end of page 3. - And then you'll kick me out?
Let's start for a beginning. - And after that I get kicked out.
It comes to my mind...
That sentence on page 0,
that citation...
The epigraph? - Exactly.
"Almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman."
That's a citation from the novel. It stems from the Book of Judith.
From the bible? - The biblical Apocrypha, yes.
I don't know. Don't you consider that sexist?
"Almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman."
I only cite the book. - But you put it on page 0.
No offence, it doesn't matter. I'm just an actress, but...
I forgot my fur. She's wearing a stole made of fur, right?
That's correct.
Fur... Fur... pillowy fur...
Exactly. - Maybe it's not...
The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
I'm waiting.
Betty Botter bought a bit of butter.
Knock, knock! - Come in.
Herr Doctor Severin von Kusiemski?
I'm sorry to disturb you.
My name is Wanda von Dunajew.
I inhabit the room above yours.
Yesterday evening I found this book...
a copy of "Faust"
with your book plate
while sitting under the birch tree next to the statue of Venus.
Thank you very much.
I've informed the chambermaid this instant.
I would have sent it to you
but it contains a quite daring postcard.
A Tizian, isn't it?
Yes. "Venus with the Mirror", one of my favorite paintings.
Your Venus is worn out...
just as your book.
Is she faithful?
Pardon? - To the original?
Yes, it's an exact copy.
I comprehend your fascination. A charming painting.
Thank you for bringing it back.
I couldn't miss that strange poem on the back cover.
"To Venus in Fur". Did you write it?
Those are just doggerel verses.
Doggerel... really?
To love, to be loved
what fortune
and yet it's brilliance fades
against the dolorous joy
of worshipping a woman making us her toy
to be the slave of a beautiful tyrant
that rides roughshod over us
my goddess, my dictatorship my Venus in Fur.
Interesting perception!
In your place I would
take proper care of this bookmark.
I appreciate your discretion.
Would you care to sit down, Ms. Dunajew?
Thank you.
May I take your fur? - That's very kind of you.
A tartar fur, right?
Caucasian sable, presumably from Kazakhstan.
Caucasian sable from Kazakhstan, exactly.
Kusiemski stares at the fur in his hands.
But you are trembeling, Mr. Kusiemski!
Please forgive me.
Would you care for a drink?
Gladly. Coffee would be wonderful.
Take some of mine. - How kind of you.
Two cubes of sugar, please. - He pours the coffee.
I hope my heels don't cause to much noise up there?
Not at all.
Walk your heels as much as you like.
So you're a poet, Mr. Kusiemski.
During my idle hours. - And a fancier of fur.
The love for fur is...
I skip that passage. - No, read it!
The love for fur is inherent in all of us.
A constitutional passion.
Please try a little harder!
The love for fur is inherent in all of us.
To caress a mellow fur is a constitutional passion...
to sense that peculiar titillation, that elextricity...
I don't know why but within you it seems more than a gift of nature.
Maybe your mother enwrapped you in sable when you were a baby.
That was indiscreet, please forgive me.
Actually...
one of my aunts nourished a real passion for fur.
That explains everything.
We are all quite easily allegeable yet inextricable.
"Inextricable"? What do you mean? - Life transforms us to what we are...
We reached the end of page 3.
In fact, in fact.
That was good Vanda, really good.
I struggeled through it.
It didn't seem so.
Well kid, that's called creating atmosphere. I told you I'm a pro.
It was very good...
I'm blushing. - Not perfect...
Of course. - Let's go on a bit.
Kusiemski's lenghty monologue. We jump to...
No, read it! It helps me getting into character.
You're good, Thomas. - I just pretend...
No, you're really good. Do you have someone in mind for Kusiemski?
No, there are several options...
Do it yourself! - Of course!
Seriously, you would be good.
It's hard to expect something like that of actors...
You're the director. It's your job to torture actors.
It's my first production. - One couldn't tell.
Directors never understand anything. What I've been through...
That's why you are perfect. You know the direction.
I have a precise perception.
Alban Berg's "Lyrical Suite" during transitions...
Brilliant! - You know it?
No, but can you see what I mean? You know the characters inside out.
As Kusiemski, and I say that spontanously, you should...
try an accent or something like that. - Yes, he's distinguished.
Distinguished, exactly. - With a hint of...
of nobility, yes.
Is it adequately distinguished if I express myself like that?
Or completely idiotic? - No, a bit ludicrous, but brilliant.
You wouldn't have a robe with you by any chance?
Sure!
I was kidding. - Want to try it?
It'll help you. It'll fit just perfect.
It's marvellous.
A historic robe? - At least I was told it is.
"Siegfried Mueller,
Vienna,
1869."
I haven't seen that.
40 Euros, not bad, isn't it?
Awesome, like it was made for you! How do you feel in it?
Very good. It fits just perfect.
You look hot in it.
Hi sweety!
How much was the collar?
It's from the time I walked the streets.
Just kidding! Let's go a bit back. That'll help you.
Maybe your mother enwrapped you in sable when you were a baby.
That was indiscreet, please forgive me.
Actually one of my aunts nourished a real passion for fur.
This is difficult for him. - No wonder.
Well, then show it!
That was indiscreet, please forgive me.
Actually...
one of my aunts nourished a real passion for fur.
That explains everything.
We are all quite easily allegeable yet...
inextricable.
"Inextricable"? What do you mean?
Life transforms us to what we are...
in an unforseen instant...
Do you like the coffee?
I've barely touched it, but it's marvellous.
That's symbolic, right?
He's the coffee. She's barely touched him, yet she's bowled by him already.
You see right through me.
Did you experience such an unforseen instant?
Yes. But I don't want to bore you.
Not at all, it's gripping. Like one of those english crime stories.
I'm waiting for that mysterious aunt with the passion for fur.
We can skip that really... - No, I want to hear it.
I'm waiting for that mysterious aunt with the passion for fur.
I was an infernal child.
Spoiled and cruel. I tortured the domestics.
And our cat.
And I've been very unmannerly towards one of my aunts.
The countess was an impressive woman, voluptious and... eerie.
What's wrong? - Nothing, nothing.
To speak out loud those words written at 2 o'clock in the morning
is something different.
You do it very well. So, what did your aunt do?
One evening she took revenge.
She entered my room
dressed in her long, black coat made of russian fox fur.
In her hand a birch freshly cut from a birch tree.
The cook and the kitchenmaid followed.
She took off her fur coat and rolled up her sleeves.
I tried to escape,
but the other women grabbed me,
took down my trousers and threw me onto the fur.
They held me while my aunt chastised me,
with the birch.
My buttocks and shanks burnt.
The maids urged her on.
They laughed at me, called me a sniveller.
I bridled but my aunt kept birching me
until I begged her to stop,
until I begged her to have mercy.
After she had stopped she forced me to thank her on my knees.
She forced me to kiss her feet.
Then she left my room after she warned me that she'll return.
All that in front of our domestics
and our cat.
Since that instant for me fur isn't just simple fur anymore
and a birch's not just a twig.
In that short instant she transformed me to what I am.
Did she return?
Yes, in my dreams, dressed in black fur with a birch in hands.
She's coming every night.
My poor, poor friend. - Poor?
She taught me the most precious of all lessons.
What did she teach you? - That there's nothing more sensual
than pain and nothing more exciting than humiliation.
The countess did great work.
She became my ideal, do you understand?
Since then I'm looking for a woman like her
and when I meet her, I'll marry her.
Thomas, that passage is brilliant.
Thanks. It was a lot of work.
So it basically is a play about child-abuse.
Are you mad? What has child-abuse to do with this?
Nowadays everything has to be attributed to some fucking social problem!
Child-abuse is no... - No, but please don't be that banal.
This is not anthropology or sociology, but theater!
Yes, but nevertheless... - It's about more than
physical punishment! - All right, I'm sorry!
What depleted society are we in?
Why has everything to be attributed to something?
What's next? Sexism... racism... class struggle?
Without any doubt you are unique, Mr. Kusiemski.
In your place I'd be cautious.
Maybe your ideal woman is more atrocious than you wish for.
I'll take that risk.
I know what you are. A hyper-sensualist.
An ascetic man of desire.
What about you, Ms. Wanda von Dunajew? What or who are you?
I'm a heathen, which means that I am young, beautiful and rich
and I want to relish it as much as I can.
I won't waive anything.
I respect your principles.
Spare me your respect.
I'll love and delight the one delighting me.
But only as long as he delights me. After that I'll find another.
Nothing is more atrocious than the infidelity of a woman.
For a woman there are worse things: forced fidelity.
Can I move on the stage? - Yes, of course.
In our society a woman only has power through a man.
What will become of a woman after she'll be equal to a man?
When she will become herself?
Little Wanda is quite ahead of her time.
Vanda... Where did you obtain the whole text?
I'm a quick learner.
You know everything by heart!
Haven't you said that Wanda is very well adapted despite...
the priciples that she pretends to. - Exactly.
You mean she doesn't believe in it? - She talks about women's rights, bla...
Does "principles that she pretends to" mean she's only staging something?
I want that alliteration: "Priciples that she pretends to".
Got that. You sold your soul
for an alliteration.
I plead guilty.
Confidentially Thomas, you're a bad boy.
If I may say so:
You are more than a heathen, you are a goddess.
Really? Which one? - Venus.
Is Wanda actually Venus or am I just mad?
Venus took man-shape to cause him a headache.
Not really... That means: not quite...
Ok, I got it. That ambivalence is intended, right?
Ambiguity. - Exactly.
Actually it's like with the "bacchae". - Right. What are the bacchae again?
Just kidding. An old play, right?
A very, very old play, yes. - Citizens of Corinth!
Testikulus is in front of you, a poor mortal man
cursed by the gods for his sins
and completely fucked up until eternity!
A play like that? - Yes, a play like that.
Dionysus comes to earth
and transforms the King of Thebes to jell-o in womens garment.
Sounds hot. - And the furious women of Thebes,
the bacchae, rip him to pieces.
Dionysus returns home triumphant. - I think I know it.
But here it is Aphrodite and not Dionysus. - Of course.
And she is... - The greek version of Venus.
The same person? - The same goddess.
All hail Aphrodite!
Am I unbearably pedantic?
Yes, but it's sweet.
What do we do?
You seem to me like a goddess.
Really? Which one?
Venus.
But Venus can only command slaves. - Then I shall look for one.
Do you wish to be my slave Doctor Kusiemski?
I am already.
I am your slave since you entered this room.
What? Already in love with me?
Passionately. I suffer as if I would have known you forever.
Subdue me!
Stand up and step aside.
I confess that you fascinate me.
I like your honesty and the clarity of your thoughts.
You're not unattractive on the outside.
But I disturst men subdueing themselves.
There is no trap. Love me!
Can you see it? You're giving me orders already.
Marry me.
I'm a frivolous woman, Mr. Kusiemski.
To love me you have to be very brave.
You know my priciples.
I don't care. I want to marry you. - You don't know me.
Dominate me! - That's absurd.
I bestow all power over me upon you. Forever!
Unconditional. Do with me what pleases you.
Dominate me. Beat me if you long to.
Well, that's unexpected.
Place yourself right over there.
What? - Move to the center... back there.
I like it here. - No, go there! You take the power.
So you have to take a powerful position.
Say it again.
Well, that's unexpected.
That doesn't work. - Don't move. Try it.
I bestow all power over me upon you. Forever!
Unconditional. Do with me what pleases you. Dominate me.
Beat me if you long to. - Well, that's unexpected.
You don't even try.
I stand where you want me to and speak my lines.
It's only an audition. - I want to see
if you're able to be conducted.
So do as I tell you and stay there.
I bestow all power over me upon you. Forever!
Unconditional. Do with what pleases you. Dominate me.
Beat me if you long to. - Well, that's unexpected.
Right, that's better. - Go on.
What's your deepest wish? - To be your property.
To be taken up with your elevated nature. To dress and undress you.
To hand you your stockings and to put on your shoes.
To live without a will of my own. - That's what you call love?
The only possible love.
In love and in politics only one partner should reign.
One has to be the hammer and the other one the anvil.
I'm willing to be the anvil.
I quit here.
No, go on, I love it!
Thomas, you really have some knowledge on women.
You understand them.
The results of long lasting studies.
Where was I? - You were the anvil.
Wanda,
i'm looking for agony and you're looking for pleasure.
Never let other people's feelings dominate you.
Use your lover as he would use you.
Dominate him, squeeze him out. - You're incredible.
If not as a husband then please accept me as your slave.
Be of divine atrocity. - To the man that loves me?
I'd worship you even more. - I don't want that.
All women long to be worshipped, like God. Create me.
Ruin me. Crush me.
I'm sorry.
No, I haven't left yet.
No, everything's fine.
I don't know. Quite soon I suppose.
I call you when I leave.
Love you too, sweetheart. Ciao.
All right.
I'm sorry.
The audition? I don't know. We'll see.
I'm at the temp agency. Maybe they have something for me.
As a typist. Nightshifts in a lawer's office.
"The contract has to be ready by tomorrow" and so on...
I don't know!
We'll see. That's life.
That's life, right? Bye!
Unbelievable.
Your better half? - Is that expression still in use?
How'd you call "your better half" today? - I don't know. "Asshole"?
I see.
You want to know why I lied? - That's none of my business.
Like Wanda says it: "I won't waive anything."
Other mothers do have fuckable sons too.
You are the hammer and he is the anvil? - What should I say?
"Suit yourself, honey"? That's not love, only sex.
No dice for fucking alone. That's what the play is about, right?
Is it?
You want to fool me?
I don't know. Do you believe? - Don't act like that!
For once, tell me what you think. One can't discutate like that.
You want some coffee?
What's wrong? - Are you hitting at me, Tom?
Not at all. I simply offer you some coffee.
Symbolic coffee? - Not at all. Real coffee.
What would your wife think about you offering me "real" coffeee?
I'm not married. - No? I thought so. The call you got...
My fiancée. - What would your fiancée think?
Didn't you say: "In theater there are plenty of opportunities for sex."
You read that?
I was young. My first interview.
Have you been married before? - No, never.
Still living with your mother?
I'm not that eccentric.
Is fox fur your thing? - No, love is my thing.
Then you're really eccentric. - And my wife has to be my muse.
So the fiancée has wings and everything? - Yes, in my perception of love
one has to devote oneself completely... - You plunge into it.
Headfirst. With fireworks, ecstasy and thunderbolts.
Coffee or no coffee?
Only as a slave I would subdue myself to a man for my whole life.
We're not quite a match, Mr. Kusienski.
We neutralize each other. - We are made for each other.
Don't you feel it Wanda?
Don't you feel it too?
I'm offering you probation. A contract. Just like in business.
One year. To prove that you are the right one.
A year is long... - Don't interrupt.
I beg you pardon.
I set up a contract binding you to be my slave for one year.
So she's really prepared. I bet she's planned it out beforehand.
You think so? - Stop that. You're the author.
I'm not so sure if she has "planned everything".
That's no affectation on my side. - So you want ambivalence.
Ambiguity. - Right.
Or she's just horny and up for anything.
I never looked at it that way. - Or it's even more eccentric:
Be my slave for one year. Then you're allowed to fuck me. Ambivalence.
Ambiguity.
For me, so to speak for Kusiemski, you may be his last, his sole chance.
Is that so? For what? - To live.
He wants to know if she's into whipping. He has her audition.
She has him audition too. - He is perverted.
She's an object. Like all women were around 1800 something.
What?
Who are you Ms. Vanda Jordan?
I am a heathen... - No, seriously.
You're hitting on me again.
What's your background? Your history?
I'm a soldiers child, raised here and there.
Where, which cities, which coutries?
I set up a contract binding you to be my slave for one year.
Your wish is my command. - Let's shake hands!
They shake hands.
A greek officer is visiting. - A Greek?
From Athens.
He's riding a white stallion and wears black leather boots.
Get me his room number.
But Wanda...
What?
Reluctant already? - Forgive me.
Wait for me tomorrow in the birch copse. Next to the statue of Aphrodite.
What time? - Wait until I deign to come!
Very well.
Don't dare to come without the room number of the Greek.
Kiss my foot.
He kneels down and kisses her foot.
I love that passage. Boom! "Kiss my foot!"
Now bring me my fur.
Severin...
How should this end?
That's up to you Ms. Wanda von Dunajew.
It's not up to me.
Thank you for the coffee slave.
Now I'll have some.
Coffee is what I mean.
That was intense. That handshake was really electrifying.
The pleasures of a time when everyone was much more introverted.
When simple conversation was still erotic. - There was nothing besides conversation.
But the novel has a different start.
The novel?
Where's the initial scene? Venus naked in fur appears to him at the fireplace.
Did you read the novel? Did you read "Venus in Furs"?
I ran over it.
So you lied when you asked: "Is it based on something?"
I wanted a headstart. Why did you erase that scene?
I didn't know where to put it. - To the start, before he meets Wanda.
"Venus in Fur" without Venus doesn't work. The same actress can do it.
I'll do the nude scene at the same price.
I'll think about it.
Let's improvise. It'll help you getting ideas.
We have to change the lightning. Where are we at the start?
In Kusiemski's room, in the middle of the night.
Ok, in the middle of the night, 2 o'clock in the morning.
Let's dim it a bit.
Fireplace to the left.
Like that.
Good.
Let's see... What's Kusiemski doing in that moment?
I don't know. He reads. - Of course.
No? To much cliché?
He reads when Wanda enters. He can't read at the start.
This isn't the public library.
He could write in his diary. - I like that.
Ok, I am Venus.
Why not.
Act as if I was naked. - Are you hitting on me?
You're a big boy. Act as if I was your fiancée.
It's my first time. - All girls say that.
It's true for me.
The fireplace is flaring up.
We see Venus, nude, lasciviously wrapped in fur.
Go on, enwrap me with fur. You're the director.
I said: lasciviously.
Now go to your desk.
Stay in character.
Write in your diary.
Write for real! - I am.
Aloud! How should one know, who you are?
It's the start of the play.
The stage brightens up gradually.
One can hear the ticking of an old clock.
22. October 1870.
Two o'clock in the morning.
I'm visiting hot springs
surrounded by forests and mountains.
A moonless night.
Darkness and silence reign.
Wait, I can hear... a sparrow.
A nightingale. - A nightingale.
And the howling of a cat in heat.
I feel... terribly alone.
Unhappy, unsatisfied...
What? Have the Germans invaded again?
I hope I don't disturb you.
Not at all.
All hail Aphrodite.
So you didn't forget me? - Forget you?
My dearest and oldest enemy?
You're too kind.
Won't you kiss my hand?
Better! But Thomas...
Did I say "Thomas"?
But Severin, it's cold in here.
At any instant I visit you I catch a cold.
See? My bronchia are mucus-ridden.
If you wouldn't run around naked...
But I am Venus. I have to be naked. That's part of my job.
Don't you want to take off that raspy garment
to nestle up against me?
There's space in my fur.
No, thank you.
I brought this mink especially for you.
Fresh from the Olympus. It's divine.
See. "Made in Olympus".
Why should I take interest in your mink?
But Severin.
I know you're little weakness. It's not women you're interested in.
It's their fur.
You should marry an otter.
I'd prefer an otter to any woman I know.
But if I spread my legs below that fur
would you refuse love? - Is it love you're offering me?
No, what you desire is power.
You dare to refuse me? - Yes.
Severin,
in time you'll crawl at my feet. You'll conjure me.
Never.
You're already mine.
For all eternity. - Never!
I'll visit you again.
She exits!
Man! - Not bad, isn't it?
Yes, but...
You can use it just like that. - In a way... yes.
At least more or less. - The Marlene-Dietrich-Accent fits, no?
Yes, it's good. It irradiates Kusiemski on another level.
He acts coyly with Venus: "No, you slut."
And the next day with Wanda: "Take me, please!"
It could get dark at the end and then brighten up again.
The next morning: knock, knock. Venus is back, disguised as Wanda.
To take revenge. - Yes, brilliant!
So it's you, right? - What?
He is you.
Kusiemski-Novachek, Novachek-Kusiemski.
No, that's not me.
You said that a lot of you is in there.
So you must be Wanda?
The play has nothing to do with me. - Of course, you're just the author.
Oops! The "adaptationer".
"If a critic states that this is me I'll kill him!"
I'm allowed to create characters, right? - Of course, Doctor Novachek.
And completely by coincidence you find them in an old sado-maso-novel.
It's a famous book.
So you didn't have your own "unforseeable instant" at the age of 12?
In the library?
No.
With a cat?
No.
Do you still wait for your "great moment"?
I'm waiting for nothing.
The relationship between those two fascinates me.
Very complex and diverse... - Of course.
I love the emotional depth of the characters.
You won't experience that nowadays.
This passion doesn't exist anymore. - You should know my friends!
Well! I'm blissfully ignorant!
Does your fiancée not bind and whip you?
No.
Ask her. Maybe the fiancée agrees.
Stop saying "the fiancée". - I'm sorry.
What does your "better half" think of the play?
Not much.
She might fear that people think it's you.
We don't fear that. Neither me nor her. - Let me guess: Your...
Marie-Cécile.
I bet she's younger than you. Good family.
Presumably she was raised in a beautiful domicile far out in the country.
At the coast, near La Baule.
Nantes to be precise.
But I bet her family went every weekend to La Baule.
To a beautiful mansion with garden.
She sails.
She loves seafood.
Correct.
She's tall. A little authoritarian but never mean.
Impressive hairstyle.
Long legs and two beautiful...
eyes.
She's smart. Elitist pre-study in Paris.
The humanities at Louis-le-Grand and École normale supérieure?
Am I greatly wrong?
The humanities at Henri-IV, ESSEC. - She did a PhD?
She's doing her doctorate in sociology.
She owns a dog. Let me think... Presumably a labrador.
His name is... He has an original, intellectual name.
Bourdieu?
Derrida. You're quite educated.
She is the main earner.
Second rate theater with a belgian cactus doesn't earn much.
No. Her family has a lot of dough. Right?
Of course I'm right.
But you are the artist.
That's what she loves about you. That and your sensitivity.
Maybe you're the first really sensitive man she got to know.
She loves books, opera, ballet and stuff like that.
In the evenings you watch ARTE and discuss literature.
Then you have convenient sex.
Nothing's more relaxing than a bit of convenient sex.
But there's a voice in your head.
A voice longing for something different.
I don't know what but it speaks out loud.
But your content.
You really like her and will lead a convenient, little life.
Watch ARTE and discuss literature.
Then you'll have kids who will do it just the same and then you're dead.
Shall we go on reading?
Yes, let's take it up again.
The next day in the birch copse? - Ok.
Let's pretend this is the statue of Venus.
All hail Aphrodite!
All hail Aphrodite...
Shall we discuss the scene beforehand?
No Severin.
That's not right. All those ideas about slavery and submission.
You depraved me with your talking.
Deep inside you you'd enjoy to dominate a man.
No. - To torture him perhaps.
No!
Admit it. - That's not me.
I appeal at your reason! - To hell with reason.
Don't you understand?
You will never be safe in the hands of a woman
no matter what woman.
That sentense is so sexist
I could scream.
Why sexist?
You will never be safe in the hands of a woman.
It's in the book. - The book is sexist.
No, it's not!
On the contrary, it's... - Yes, I know.
A classic in world literature, right?
I didn't mean to say that, but... - And this?
That's not a Tizian my friend. That's sado-maso-porn.
The whole thing is one big cliché. - How?
He gets a beating and is into sadomasochism?
That was the case with Sacher-Masoch! - And in your case?
No! - So how do you know?
For me it deals with two people wo are united forever.
Their hearts are chained together. - Through perversion.
Through passion!
His passion! - The chemistry between them releases it!
Pure sex and class struggle. Innocent Wanda
meets a sicko.
You don't understand anything. - She says: "You've depraved me."
Maybe she always longed to dominate
and he just triggered that desire. - Maybe she's just a woman.
That play is like some old misogynic treatise.
He forces her into a power game and afterwards blames her. It's like that!
How? - Well, in the end she has him
whipped by the Greek and leaves him with the cock in hands
and then she should be the guilty one? He wanted all that!
I think little Kusiemski fancies the Greek.
How can you be so stupid?
How can you play Wanda that good and then talk that stupid about her?
And everything else?
Stupid, ignorant actress!
Dopey cow! Dumb Dora!
Fuck!
I'm sorry. - Pardon?
I'm sorry. I lost my temper.
Ok, but what's said is said.
The essence of the play is: Mistrust your lust.
Because she might knock on your door.
One doesn't fool a goddess, that's what it's about!
If you like it that way.
How is it expressed nowadays: "If you like it that way"?
"For all I care."
If you say so.
Thank God there are no goddesses.
otherwise we'd be in trouble.
Ok, you're right. I accept what you say.
Can we...
Can we go on?
Please, Vanda.
Don't you understand? You'll never be safe in the hands of a woman,
no matter what woman.
We're both adventurers, Wanda.
We explore the boundaries of human nature.
You're sick.
The countess poisened you. You have to accept the consequenses.
But you like it as much as I do? - No.
You long for power over me. - No.
You love to give orders.
I beg you in all humility. Command me as you please.
You're a deranged visionary, a fanatic,
prepared to do anything to live your dreams.
You are my dream.
Withdraw from me Severin before it's too late.
Do you love me? - I don't know.
Decide! Do something to find out.
How?
Do what all lovers do.
Let me suffer.
That disgusts me and I hate to pretend.
I'm not your aunt. I am me!
Again. Provoce him.
I'm not your aunt. I am me!
Give everything! - What do you want from me?
I'm not the fucking aunt. I am me!
So what? - I don't know.
There's something different in the air! - I just wanted more.
That's not me! I just need a fucking job.
I'm not your aunt. I am me!
How's that?
Good, very good.
I can't accept the role, it's too much for me.
Please stay, Vanda.
Plead for it.
I beg you. - You're corrupt.
Don't you see that I'm completely at your mercy?
Liar.
It's not like that. Much more it's you who dominates me.
You? My slave? Dominate you?
Right, huh? - What?
He speaks of her power but acutally he dominates her.
The more submission the more power.
That's weird. - That's complex.
So here's the aforesaid contract.
After you sign you owe me complete obedience.
You are my slave.
You give up your identity.
Your body, your soul,
your honor is forever mine.
Sign here.
Well?
I assumed one year.
Pardon? Are you dictating your conditions?
May I read it?
Why? Do you mistrust me?
Sign.
Good.
From now on you call me "Madame".
And you only speak when I allow you to.
You serve my meals.
You wait for my orders in the hallway.
You dress me and undress me in the evening.
You hand me my stockings and put on my shoes.
I call you Thomas.
It's "Gregor" in the script. - I changed it.
From now on I'll call you Thomas.
You wear the livery of domestics. - As a noble man...
As a noble man you should keep your word.
According to our contract you are my slave.
Your slave, not your servant.
I don't see a difference.
Is this a game? - That's the way I am.
I'm stubborn, headstrong and greedy. I finish what I begin.
Resistance makes me even more tenacious.
But inside of you there's a noble nature.
What do you know of it besides your fantasies?
Excuse me. I'm dispicable.
Passport and money.
Give it to me!
Tomorrow we're leaving to Florence.
I'll travel in the first class, you in the third.
Third class?
You eat and sleep with the domestics.
Well, Thomas, what's wrong?
Where should this end?
End? We haven't even begun.
But Wanda... - She slaps him.
She kisses him.
She caresses his cheek.
Did I hurt you my love?
Yes, it was awesome. - Good.
Have you gathered information on the Greek?
He's called Alexis and he's a count.
He's beautiful, isn't he? - He's absolutely enchanting.
Didn't I tell you! Kusiemski fancies the Greek.
You book a loge next to his for todays opera.
I'll allow Alexis to seduce me.
But... Wanda.
What's wrong?
Can't I decide the way I want?
You electrify me. - Be silent doggy!
Bring me a birch.
He brings a birch.
Can you hear the whipping?
It brings my nerves in motion.
I want to hear you whine at every hit.
I want to see Mr. Kusiemski cry like a little girl.
I'm excited. The air is burning.
What have you done?
Bla, bla, bla. - What? Bla, bla, bla?
What? She transforms into a wicked witch.
"The air is burning, my nerves in motion".
The only things missing are lightning and drums rolling.
Listen... I like you Tom.
I honestly think you're great, but that's really corny.
Corny?
Corny? In which way? It's the play.
This is my play! A unique piece.
No one talks me into something else.
You're ignorant.
No one trashes my work! If they play the role or not.
Go to hell. - Ok, that's your thing.
She draws a knife and holds it to his throat.
God, how I despise you!
What are you doing? What is it, Wanda?
I see through this game.
You wish to use me... bind me.
I don't wish to.
If you only knew what kind of pleasure that feeling is.
You know what?
Something for the labor union...
Do I have the role or not?
I give it to you with pleasure.
That's what you're saying now. Let's write it down.
Yes. - Piss off Marie-Cécile!
I'm still here to finish something.
He's fucking me Marie-Cécile!
He fucks my ass. - I don't know. Soon.
He's fucking me like a labrador in heat!
Start dinner without me. I'll be there soon, ok?
Isn't there some of yesterdays lamb left?
I call you when I leave.
Bye then. Yes.
Yes, quite ok.
I don't know!
I come home when I come home.
Fuck you! Ciao!
I'm sorry. - There was no one on, right?
What?
You only pretended to speak. - That was my better half.
What kind of a guy is he? - Why does it have to be a guy?
Why would you've done it?
What do you think?
You didn't like that I answered the phone.
Female revenge? Something like that?
Something like that, yes.
Any other director would have jumped my bones already.
I'm different. - What nonsense.
You were uncertain. Otherwise you would have done it.
Wrong.
What if I'd allow it?
Why do you know so much about Marie-Cécile?
I know her from training. - Of course.
She looks nice.
Very pretty, really.
We talked in the locker room...
women's talk.
I told her of my acting and my retraining as a private detective.
She told me of her friend,
a mysterious type, an author.
She gave me some money for spying on you.
To find out who you are. If you genuinely love her.
Gathering premarital information.
With a check on your certificate of conduct and your financial situation.
I'm supposed to meat her later on in a hotel...
to give her detailed information.
She's really sexy. Congrats!
You're incredible.
If a man says that I sense a trap.
Caught me.
Marie-Cécile never showers in the studio. - Really?
But she was wet.
Shall we do the ending?
Yes.
Wear this.
Thomas, you let me wait.
I'm grief-stricken, Madame. I polished the silver.
You look elegant in your livery.
Thany you, Madame. - Turn around.
Oh yes. Absolutely irresistable.
But still your just a domestic.
Something's missing, Thomas.
Where's that from? That's not in the... - I improvise.
Something's missing.
Very elegant! The topping on the cake.
Does this feel good? - Very good, Madame.
When you're wearing this I could almost fall in love with you.
Almost fall in love...
Don't you love me?
You're a bore. That constant whining.
Is it the count? Are you in love with him?
He followed me to Florence.
He doesn't love you. For him you're just one of a bunch.
Bastard! Watch the way you talk!
Bring my boots.
Yes, Madame.
Not there. In the bag.
Idiot! - Yes, Madame.
From now on you call me "Mistress". That's more degrading.
Yes, Mistress.
You like my boots?
Yes, Mistress.
You want to put them on?
Yes, Mistress.
You should put them on me!
Yes, Mistress.
Tomorrow I might bind you to the fig-tree in the garden
and sting you with my golden hairpin.
Or... I harness you completely naked to a plow
and rush you with the whip.
Would you like that?
Oh yes, Mistress.
I'm very pleased with you, Thomas. Maybe I give you some candy.
Is there anything else to do, Mistress? - Yes, one last thing.
Tell your Marie-Cécile that you're not coming home.
I can't do that. - Really?
You can't?
No, I can't.
No cop-outs.
Marie-Cécile, it's me.
"I won't come home."
I won't come home. - No excuses.
I can't tell you why. - Tell her "see you."
See you.
Hang up and switch off your cell.
Isn't that wonderful?
You and me. Here.
It's really nice here.
Peaceful.
I don't know where I am.
Come on.
A life is ahead of you. Ahead of us.
Ahead of us both.
Ahead of us and your friend, the count.
Don't annoy with with him.
I don't punish you enough. That's the problem.
Just now I wanted to take you into my arms.
You wished to do that? Really?
Come.
Come here.
Lay your arms around me.
You see?
I can give you the feeling of regained freedom for just an hour, dummy.
You'll soon understand that it's me to decide what you are.
An animal.
An object.
An empty space I can fill.
I won't allow that.
I don't want that. I refuse.
Pardon?
I wrote you a letter. - A letter?
Maybe a breakup note?
Has the humiliation you desired become unbearable?
Has the humiliation you desired...
I can't play that. I don't understand it.
But it's...
it's quite precise.
What should I do? How do you imagine the scene?
That's the moment... What does he say again?
I wrote you a letter. - A letter?
Maybe a breakup note? Has the humiliation you desired...
Lie down.
Has the humiliation you desired become unbearable?
You sure carry it around all day
yet you're too afraid to show me! Well?
Where is it? Show me this masterpiece.
A little entertainment would do me good.
That's good, Tom. You're awesome!
You should play Wanda.
No, no.
Of course.
Be Wanda.
You understand her better than me.
You created her. You know her innermost.
I'm not familiar with her dialogue. - Of course you are.
Be careful, Severin. - I do my best, Mistress.
And as usual your best is not enough.
Bring my fur.
Yes, Mistress.
Bring a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
Count Alexis will arrive soon. - But Mistress...
If you don't like it then leave my presence.
Your fur, Mistress.
Will you marry count Alexis, Mistress?
I don't want to lie, Severin. That man makes me shiver.
Brilliant!
One moment.
Sit down.
He dominates my thoughts.
He has a grip on me.
He dominates my thoughts and never lets me go.
He makes me suffer. - Brilliant.
But I embrace this anguish. - Come closer.
If he asks for my hand, I'll say yes. From the deepest of my heart.
You're magical.
Have you noticed that you make him jealous?
I told him everything about us.
Did he threaten to kill you?
Indeed.
Did he hit you? - Yes.
And you allowed that? - Yes, it was heavenly.
More intensity.
Yes, and it was... heavenly.
Rub it in his face!
Yes!
And it was heavenly!
I kill you both.
I tear out your hearts and feed them to the dogs.
Be cursed.
Yes, kill me! Comfort me, Severin!
I can't endure this comedy anymore. - Comedy? What comedy?
How can you love me?
I was awful to you. Don't you understand?
I did it to save you. To heal you.
To show you how much I love you.
So none of it was real? - Nothing.
It was all a game, just theater?
And the contract? - Ah, the contract...
My sweet little dummy.
I love you since the moment I first saw you. I just couldn't tell.
I'm not the one you think I am. I am weak.
I'm all lost.
Not bad.
I should be subdued!
I should be bound and whipped.
I bind you with my stockings to the statue.
You want that, don't you?
Oh yes, I beg you.
Do with me what pleases you.
Promise me to never leave me. - I swear to never leave you.
Rise!
Hands!
I dreamt of this moment since I first saw you.
Louder! Much louder!
Humiliate me. Degrade me, dominate me!
Good, Tom.
Very good, really.
Brilliant. But do you know what's the problem?
Whatever one says or does, this play
degrades and insults women. It's pornography.
What are you talking about?
Look at you. A virgin in needs. A helpless stupid cow
humiliating herself in front of her husband: "Hurt me, I'm just a woman!"
Damn! Fucking shit!
Strong emotions.
Good. There's no passion like that anymore.
Vanda...
Thank me!
Thank you.
"Thank you" who?
Thank you, Mistress.
You wanted to manipulate a dumb, little actress
to satisfy your perverted needs?
Create your own personal female monster of Frankenstein?
Thought you could humiliate me? - No, I swear it.
Thank you, Mistress.
"Thank you, Goddess."
Thank you... Goddess.
Fuck!
Bacchea of Thebes! We dance to the rythm of Bacchus!
Almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath
delivered him into the hands of a woman.