On D List of Movie Reviews
(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)
Delta of Venus (1995)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
7/15
7/15:
Hoping to get my Zalman King fix, Delta of Venus more or less misses the mark, is silly at times, and isn't
erotic enough.
The lack of passion is immediately felt because there's little chemistry between Audie England and Costas Mandylor
although both possess the foreign look. They do what they can with the material but don't have what it takes to win me over
with their supposed heat.
Ironically, the anonymous buyer cautioned Elena in one of his letters to focus more on sex and less on her poetic language
when the opposite should have happened. The result is a loss in momentum because of the overplayed sex scenes. Once it happens,
Delta of Venus is no longer mysterious or interesting and is thus two levels below
9½ Weeks,
Lake Consequence, and Two Moon Junction.
For most of the time, there's no plot. Conflict is delivered too late. By the time it comes,
it's laughable. Often, I've forgotten the movie takes place in 1940 during WWII when it feels like it was
shot at some exotic Eastern Europe city (actually Prague, not Paris) in 1995.
On the plus side, Delta of Venus has great cinematography and editing which are very much like Zalman King,
saving the film from going under. That's why he has a knack for turning a softcore porn flick into a work of art. He also knows
who to get when it comes to the cast because they're suitable, if androgynous, for a nude picture.
All in all, Delta of Venus needs more subtlety but with less sex shown.