Venus (film)
| Venus | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| 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 |
| Edited by | Nicolas Gaster |
| Distributed by |
Buena Vista Pictures (UK) Miramax Films/FilmFour Productions (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £3,000,000 |
| Box office | $7,261,490 |
Venus is a 2006 British comedy-drama film starring 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 21 December 2006.
The plot concerns Maurice Russell, an elderly actor who finds himself increasingly attracted to his friend Ian's grand-niece Jessie while simultaneously finding himself in deteriorating health due to prostate cancer. Maurice's friend describes the grand-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 to view his favourite painting, the Rokeby Venus, by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez.
Jessie had expressed interest in modelling (Maurice initially mis-hears this as "yodelling") 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 favourite 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 towards 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, as 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 flat to have sex with a boy), taking care of him, flirting with him, and rejecting him sexually to engaging 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 does not judge her as harshly as her family members have.
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