Vénus noire

This movie should be half an hour. There are same scenes over and over. Okey we got it that the woman is suffering under a very horribble man but we do not know what she thinks . She keeps her silent thorough the movie.

The storytelling is not sufficient altough the subject is perfect.

Anyway i am very sorry for that woman and shame on those white people so called "the founder of modern world"

This film is NOT for the faint of heart. Nothing is censored, just the bare naked (literally) truth. Black Venus tells the true story of Sarah (Baptized name) Baartman, a South African woman of Khoisan descent who in the early 19th century was led on false pretenses of fame and fortune to England only to be exploited for her body.

I watched this film with a basic understanding of Sarah's biography. With this in mind, I am a little surprised that the film didn't get a higher rating. Yes, it is difficult to watch. Yes, it shows exploitation and abuse at its finest (if that's even the correct word to use here). Yes, there is shocking and pornographic scenes that are not suitable for the faint of heart. Yes, you will be disgusted.

But you should be. This is a very accurate portrayal of what happened to the true "Venus of Hottentot." She was exploited for her body, people paid to touch her buttocks and her genitalia was a matter of scientific intrigue. This movie is not a pleasant watch, but the topic itself is not a pleasant truth. This is a dark side of history that is difficult to explore, and the director and the main actress do a wonderful job of portraying it as such.

History buffs, this film is for you - especially if you are interested in African/Women's history. For the faint of heart, avoid this film - and for the curious, make sure you know fully well what you're getting into.

Pros: A very important tale worth telling.

A true depiction of a strong black woman, who did what she had to do to survive.

I saw the story as a metaphor for how every European country took advantage of the continent of Africa.

Cons: I hate the fact that what took place in the film, happened to many people of African descent.

This is the story of the black woman in the early 1800s, shown on cheap varieties as the so called Hottentott Venus. She behaves like an animal, is treated on stage as an animal and is regarded as such by the rude audiences.

She isn't a slave. Not technically, but the agreement with her employer is of course on his terms. There are also other forms of performances. This woman also acts in front of Parisian high society and not at least in front of the scientists of the time, who find resemblances with the orangutan.

What her employers is exploiting is not just this woman; they also exploit racism and the different kind of audiences let their racism be exploited. There are of course money to be made from prejudices. 200 years ago and now. This our lesson.

Was this film 3 hours long or fourteen? Kechiche takes us across borders (Africa / Europe, Dead / Living, Savage / Civilized) in a movie that has the gravitas and sensual weight of a kind of stations of the cross. The "Venus" is our Christ, suffering for and as the direct result of our sins, chief among those the blindness we call racism. Potently, even explosively mixed with virulent sexism, racism shapes the ever more horrible experience of the film's subject, as she is reduced (figuratively and then literally) to an object. The film is gorgeous, infinitely wise about the costs of being marked (trapped in the legibly different body), smart about the role that money plays in the ongoing betrayal (if Judas saw this film he'd really feel rooked: the point is not to sell out Christ, the point is how many times you can--for an increasing price--take trust to market), and worth every minute of horrified attention. Then--you ask-- why an "8"? Of course we are (as the film is eager to point out), as spectators, aligned with all those who want to look at this...complicated site of excitements--but we are also (in tight close-up for the tears that always start in Yahima Torres' left eye) vaguely miserable with her (growling at the end of a chain is okay, being touched is--at first--not) and then...nowhere. Who was she? What did she (aside from bright red leather gloves and a tres joli hat) want? There's something about this film, in other words, that seems just about as hard and cold and stiff as the plaster cast of the Hottentot, which seems always just on the verge of coming to life.