Venus (film)

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Venus

Promotional poster for the film
Directed by Roger Michell
Produced by Kevin Loader
Written by Hanif Kureishi
Starring Peter O'Toole
Leslie Phillips
Jodie Whittaker
Richard Griffiths
and Vanessa Redgrave
Music by David Arnold
Corinne Bailey Rae
Cinematography Haris Zambarloukos
Editing by Nicolas Gaster
Distributed by UK:
Buena Vista Pictures
USA: Miramax Films
Release date(s) 2006
Running time 95 min.
Country UK
Language English
Budget £3,000,000[1]
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Venus is a 2006 film staring Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, Vanessa Redgrave and Jodie Whittaker. It is directed by Roger Michell and written by Hanif Kureishi.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was put on limited release in the United States on December 15, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The plot concerns Maurice (O'Toole), an elderly actor who finds himself increasingly attracted to his friend, Ian's, young great-niece Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) while simultaneously finding himself in deteriorating health due to what is apparently prostate cancer. Maurice's friend describes the great-niece as a trouble maker and a nuisance, but Maurice discovers that Jessie warms up to him when he starts interacting with her. He takes her to the National Gallery in London, England to view his favorite painting, The Rokeby Venus by the Spanish artist Velázquez. Jessie had expressed interest in modeling (Maurice initially mis-hears this as "yodeling") and Maurice arranges for Jessie to model nude for an art class. As a result of Jessie posing for the art class, and inspired by his favorite painting, Maurice decides to give Jessie the nickname "Venus". Maurice and Jessie develop a passive/aggressive relationship over the course of the film. Maurice is forward in terms of his attraction toward Jessie while Jessie occasionally indulges his whims to a limited extent, such as touching her hand and smelling her neck, but also retracts the indulgences when she feels that he has gone too far. The plot of the film revolves around the evolving friendship or relationship between the two characters. For Maurice, this appears to be the last attempt at something approaching a love life, just as his ability to perform has been taken away (his prostate operation has left him impotent). For Jessie, it is less clear what she sees in Maurice. During the course of the film we see her do everything from exploiting him (trying to get him to buy her presents, trying to use his apartment to have sex with a boy), take care of him, flirt with him, reject him sexually and engage with him as a friend. During the course of the film we learn that she has been rejected by her mother and great-uncle for her promiscuous life style; it is implied that she is drawn to Maurice because he doesn't judge her harshly as her family members have.

The plot comes to head when Jessie becomes involved with a boy. The boy appears in the background a few times throughout the film and finally appears on Maurice's doorstep along with Jessie. The two young lovers convince Maurice to take a walk so that they can have sex. Maurice initially obliges the request, but returns to kick them out of his flat. A scuffle ensues and the boy knocks down Maurice, injuring him. Jessie leaves with the boy and apparently spends the night out partying with him at clubs, later remorsefully returning to check to see how Maurice is doing. When the paramedics arrive Maurice claims he can't remember who attacked him, much to the surprise of Jessie. Then Maurice calls for "Venus" to take care of him. Jessie agrees and is remorseful, agreeing to look after Maurice. Some time later after Maurice has at least partly recovered he takes Jessie to the coast and as they sit down by the water Maurice says to Jessie "Now we can really talk" and dies in her arms.

[edit] Awards and reception

The film opened to generally positive reviews from American critics [2]. It was nominated for five British Independent Film Awards and earned Oscar, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, Broadcast Film Critics Association and Golden Globe nominations for O'Toole as Best Actor. Leslie Phillips also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

O'Toole's Oscar nomination marked his eighth Best Actor nomination over a span of forty-five years.[3] However, on February 25, 2007 at the 79th Academy Awards, he was bested by Forest Whitaker, making his eight nominations without victory a record.

[edit] Cast

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A19234299 BBC Interview With the Director
  2. ^ Venus - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
  3. ^ OSCAR.com - 80th Annual Academy Awards - Nominee List

[edit] External links


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