Venus in Furs,a sampler
The original inspiration for BDSM aficionados
Venus in Furs, the erotic 1870 novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, changed everything when it turned the world on to deviant sexual themes like bondage, dominance, and sadomasochism. It tells the story of Severin, a young, sensitive artist who was humiliated as a child by his glamorous aunt, transforming him into a masochist as an adult. Longing to be a slave to an older, powerful woman, he develops an S&M relationship with the beautiful Wanda, a dominate with a limitless lust for torturing Severin.
The pleasure and pain theme of Venus in Furs has inspire many artists, writers and photographers. The remarkably sexy photo shoot of Charlotte Rampling by Helmut Newton, books like Fifty Shades of Grey, the four-time Tony-nominated play, Venus in Fur, starring Hugh Dancy and Nina Arlanda, Roman Polanski’s 2013 film based on the play, starring his wife Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric, and a song by Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground (below), are all an homage to the novel.
One of our favorite interpretations on the book is in the film Swoon (1992), Tom Kalin‘s gorgeous black & white masterpiece based on the true story of the murderous gay lovers, Leopold and Loeb. It opens with Loeb (Daniel Schlachet) reciting from the novella, begging his master to be made a slave. We’ve embedded the entire film, but you can watch the snippet from the beginning.
The book doesn’t end well—Wanda becomes a slave to another man, leaving poor Severin alone and humiliated. But Venus in Furs continues to inspire doms and subs to break out the whips and ropes and explore their darkest desires.
