Film Analysis: Venus
For anyone who has not seen the film, “Venus” starring Peter O’Toole, I highly recommend it. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but after the first 10 minutes, I was absorbed in the dry and slightly crude humor.
Written by Hanif Kureishi, and directed by Roger Michell, the setting of the film is in rural London, England. Peter O’Toole plays an elderly actor named Maurice. Leslie Phillips, Jodie Whittaker, Richard Griffiths, Vanessa Redgrave, and Cathryn Bradshaw. “Venus” is rated R for language, sexual content and brief nudity.
The film starts with Maurice and his good friend, Ian, popping an assortment of prescription pills over coffee in a café somewhere downtown. Ian is excited about hosting his great-niece, Jessie –played by Jodie Whittaker –only to find out she is poor company and quite rude. Maurice takes a liking to her and the film revolves around their friendship/relationship as it develops through the story.
When Maurice asks Jessie what she is doing in London, she tells him she is looking for a modeling job. Maurice later arranges for Jessie to do some nude modeling for an art class. Shortly after this, Maurice gives Jessie the nickname “Venus” based on his favorite painting called, “Rokeby Venus”. Maurice later finds out he has prostate cancer and does not have a long time to live. The message behind the story is Maurice attempting to find love before his death of cancer. However, Jessie continually rejects Maurice’s attempts at intimacy while sometimes allowing them.
Jessie starts to get involved with a boy while using Maurice to buy her presents, drinks at bars and restaurants, and also later on in the story to have sex with her new male friend in Maurice’s flat. Maurice comes back from his walk and an argument ensues when Maurice catches them. This results in Jessie pushing Maurice to the ground and hurting him, and Jessie and her boy toy flee the scene. The next day, Jessie comes back to check on Maurice and finds that Maurice did not rat her out to the paramedics, claiming he could not remember who had attacked him. Jessie takes responsibility for Maurice and is put in charge to bring him back to health, and the story continues with Maurice falling in love with “Venus”.
Overall, I really enjoyed the film. From a distance, the thought of a movie about an elderly man falling for a young woman in her 20’s sounded a little disturbing. Peter O’Toole is a great actor and was deservedly nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for this film. He alone is the reason why this is a touching love story instead of a creepy, dirty old man searching for a bucket list booty-call. Many of us can relate to the feeling of having feelings for another, but not receiving the same feelings in return. I think because I have, too, been there, I was able to relate to the main character, making it easier to appreciate O’Toole’s depiction of the emotion in his acting.
I also thought Jodie Whittaker played the part well, except for her dialogue in a couple of scenes. For example, when Maurice and Jessie were first getting to know each other, I thought Whittaker’s dialogue was very dry. I understand she was trying to play the part of an ungrateful brat, but she did not try to do anything with her lines early in the story. It’s almost as if she plays two separate characters: Jessie before Maurice, and Jessie after Maurice.
The biggest disappointment of the film for me was the lighting. The cinematography was poor at certain parts of the film and that made it difficult to see the entire scene. This is a big movie pet peeve of mine, so it bothered me.
I give the film 3 out of 4 stars, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys drama and love stories. I could see this film attracting a predominately mature audience. “Venus” is an unusual twist on a traditional love story and has all the great aspects of an entertaining drama film.