''Venus in Furs'' ( it, Venere in pelliccia) (also known as ''Devil in the Flesh'') is a

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Italian erotic

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 ...

directed by

Massimo Dallamano Massimo Dallamano (17 April 1917 – 4 November 1976), sometimes credited as Max Dillman, Max Dillmann or Jack Dalmas, was an Italian director and director of photography. Life and career Born in Milan, Dallamano began in the 1940s as camera ...

. Based on the novel ''

Venus in Furs ''Venus in Furs'' (german: Venus im Pelz, links=no) is a novella by the Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and the best known of his works. The novel was to be part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called '' Legacy of Cai ...

'' by

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (; 27 January 1836 – 9 March 1895) was an Austrian nobleman, writer and journalist, who gained renown for his romantic stories of Galician life. The term ''masochism'' is derived from his name, invented by h ...

, the film was first released in 1969 in Germany under the title ''Venus im Pelz''. In Italy, the film did not pass the censorship examination because of the sex scenes deemed too rough and all attempts to overcome the censorship's remarks, with various cut versions, were unsuccessful. The film was eventually released in 1973 under the title ''Venere nuda'', but even this cut version was confiscated after a few days for contempt of decency. In 1975, the film was finally released in Italian cinemas under the title ''Le malizie di Venere'', in a heavily censored version which was altered by a new editing and by the introduction of new scenes filmed by Paolo Heusch, which turned the film plot into a''

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

''. The new title was a specific reference to lead actress

Laura Antonelli Laura Antonelli ( Antonaz; 28 November 1941 – 22 June 2015) was an Italian film actress who appeared in 45 films between 1964 and 1991. Early years Antonelli was born Laura Antonaz in Pola, Kingdom of Italy (in Croatian, Pula), former cap ...

's box-office success in '' Malizia'' (1973).

Synopsis

Based on the infamous novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch, the film follows the perverted passions of a young couple as Severin watches the beautiful Wanda writhing naked amongst furs. Being a peeping tom triggers a whirlpool of emotions due to a childhood episode which punishes voyeurism with pain.

Cast

: Wanda de Dunaieff * Régis Vallée: Severin * Loren Ewing: Bruno * Renate Kasché: Gracia *

Werner Pochath Werner Pochath (29 September 1939 – 18 April 1993) was an Austrian film actor. He worked in Germany, Italy and the United States, and then in the 1980s he began a second career as a Hollywood agent. He had been the partner of the ballet directo ...

: Manfred *

Mady Rahl Mady Rahl (3 January 1915 – 29 August 2009) was a German stage and film actress. Born Edith Gertrud Meta Raschke in Neukölln, now part of Berlin, Rahl trained as an actress and dancer. In 1935 she made her stage debut in Leipzig under the di ...

: Helga * Giacomo Furia: Lawyer

References

External links

* 1969 films 1960s erotic drama films Italian erotic drama films Films directed by Massimo Dallamano Films based on Austrian novels Films scored by Gianfranco Reverberi BDSM in films 1969 drama films Censored films Film controversies in Italy 1960s Italian films {{1960s-Italy-film-stub