Venus in Furs

Not to be confused with the Jess Franco version released the following year, this is an updated, softcore adaptation of Leopold Sacher- Masoch's novel about voyeurism, the fetishistic thrill of fur, and the desire to be sexually dominated. Through fantasy, role-playing and sexual experiment, bland hunk Severin (Kasche) and his blonde lover Wanda (Antonelli) explore the power dynamics of their relationship: 'Each day Wanda seems more beautiful to me,' reflects Severin, 'but what is a woman's beauty compared with her cruelty?' Much of the coupling and lashing is coyly filmed from behind strategically placed foreground objects, but those with a tolerance for repeated zoom shots, atrocious dubbing and irritating '60s muzak may find this titillating. More problematic is an extended scene, filmed subjectively through the manacled Severin's mask, which depicts the rape of a maid by an animalistic man. Surely it is the maid and not Severin who is being humiliated here, a misogynist slide that is compounded by the suggestion that she eventually begins to enjoy it. Sleazy this may be, subversive it ain't.