''Delta of Venus'' is a 1994 American

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Zalman King Zalman King (born Zalman King Lefkowitz; May 23, 1941 – February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica. Early life Zalman Kin ...

and starring

Audie England Adrienne Marie "Audie" England (born July 12, 1967) is an American actress and professional photographer. Life and career England was born in Los Angeles, California, and graduated from UCLA with a concentration in cinematography. When she wa ...

Costas Mandylor Costas Mandylor (born Konstantinos Theodosopoulos; 3 September 1965) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Kenny in ''Picket Fences'' and for portraying Mark Hoffman in the ''Saw'' films. Early life Mandylor was born i ...

, and

Marek Vašut Marek Vašut (born 5 May 1960 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech film, stage, and television actor, best known for his appearances in ''Solomon Kane'' and ''Blade II''. He voiced the character Tommy Angelo for the Czech version of the video ga ...

. It is inspired by the posthumously published 1977 short story collection ''

Delta of Venus ''Delta of Venus'' is a book of fifteen short stories by Anaïs Nin published posthumously in 1977—though largely written in the 1940s as erotica for a private collector. In 1994 a film inspired by the book was directed by Zalman King. Bac ...

'' by

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell (February 11, 1903 – January 14, 1977; , ) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

NC-17 The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion picture ...

and R-rated versions of the film exist; the NC-17 rating is due to explicit sex. The

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

release contains both versions of the film. The film was released in June 1995 in the United States.

Plot

Set in Paris, France, in 1940 in the early days of World War II before the German

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

and conquest of France, Elena Martin (

) is a young American writer struggling to get by in Paris while searching for inspiration for her first novel. Elena meets and has a sordid affair with a fellow American expatriate named Lawrence Walters (

). With some encouragement from her friends, her lover, and her publisher, Elena gets involved in nude modeling and progresses onward through many other forms of voyeuristic and participatory sexual adventures as she further researches for inspiration to write her book and become an author of erotic fiction.

Cast

as Elena Martin *

as Lawrence Walters * Eric Da Silva as Marcel * Raven Snow as Leila * Rory Campbell as Miguel * Emma Louise Moore as Ariel * Bernard Zette as Donald (as Zette) *

Marek Vasut Marek is the West Slavic (Czech, Polish and Slovak) masculine equivalent of Marcus, Marc or Mark. The name may refer to: * Marek (given name) * Marek (surname) * Marek, the pseudonym of Bulgarian communist Stanke Dimitrov (1889–1944) * The titl ...

as Luc * Markéta Hrubesová as Bijou * Daniel Leza as Pierre * Stephen Halbert as Harry * Dale Wyatt as Millicent * Jirí Ded as Priest * Valérie Zawadská as Landlady * James Donahower as Bandleader *

Robert Davi Robert John Davi (born 1953) is an American actor, singer and filmmaker. Over the course of his acting career, Davi has performed in more than 130 films. Among his most known roles are opera-singing heavy Jake Fratelli in ''The Goonies'' (1985), ...

as The Collector *

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (, ; born 22 August 1967) is an English actor, director, and former fashion model known for his roles as Lock-Nah in ''The Mummy Returns'', Nykwana Wombosi in '' The Bourne Identity'', Heavy Duty in '' G.I. Joe: The R ...

as The Clairvoyant (as Wale) *

Clive Revill Clive Revill is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. ...

as Radio Announcer (voice) *

Roberta Hanley Roberta Hanley is an actress and movie director. She directed the 1998 movie ''Brand New World'', for which she was awarded the ''Grand Jury Prize'' for Best Feature Film at the 2001 New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. Films ...

as Opium Den Proprietor

Background

The novel by

on which the film is based is not autobiographical, nor does it have a frame narrative. The film imposes a frame-narrative about a "Nin-like" American who begins an affair with another

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

American in pre–

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and who writes erotic stories that represent her fantasies. Some of these stories/fantasies, based on those of Nin, are explored on-screen.

References

External links

* 1990s erotic drama films 1994 films 1990s English-language films Films set in Paris New Line Cinema films American erotic drama films Films directed by Zalman King Films scored by George S. Clinton Films based on short fiction 1994 drama films 1990s American films {{erotic-film-stub