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Leslie Phillips and Peter O’Toole in Venus
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Niece work for Pete
VENUS
Directed by Roger Michell
Certificate 15
VENUS is a simple film about age and aging. It explores the paradox that just as you are beginning to understand what life is all about, and appreciate the beauty of each breath, you are too frail to enjoy it.
But rather than present this as a tragedy, director Roger Michell has taken Hanif Kureshi’s straightforward plot about a pensioner falling in love with a teenager, cast Peter O’Toole in the main role and the result is an enjoyable and occasionally poignant film.
Maurice (O’Toole) is slipping into old age, fulfilling the adage that old actors never die, they just play corpses.
Retirement, although not official, brings the pleasure of knocking about with Ian (Leslie Phillips) and his cuddly muse Donald (Richard Griffiths).
Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) is the great-grand-niece of Ian and has travelled to London to be a companion to her aging relative.
But the inclusion of an uncultured but fascinating young woman in both their lives puts a zing in their zimmers.
Jessie, of course, finds the pair rather disgusting at first and has little interest in looking after Ian or listening to their stories of former glories. But when Maurice offers the info that he can get her a job modelling, she perks up – only to discover the modelling he has in mind is in the nude for an art class, not on the catwalk.
However, a trip to the National Gallery to see Venus and she is persuaded it is not as sleazy as it sounds. Maurice is quickly smitten and she thaws too – but the viewer is never quite sure why, especially when she allows their relationship to verge on physical, prompting the question: what is in it for her?
Maurice sees himself as a wise old educator, opening the eyes of his young charge to the cultural things in life she has missed, while she enjoys the presents he offers.
But while Mo and Jo are walking the streets of London, his friends increasingly believe that it is somehow not becoming of a man of Maurice’s stature to be infatuated with this loudmouthed youngster, even if it’s pure pleasure for the audience to watch.
O’Toole is frail but sparkling, and his ability as an actor shines through as he charms and educates his new young friend, hoping she may fall for him.
O’Toole’s growth from shabby to gleaming through the stimulation of a new project is marvellous. In each scene he brings something watchable, from his interaction with Jessie, the banter with his friends or the more subtle relationship with ex-wife, played by Vanessa Redgrave.
The other stars of this film are the locations.
Kenwood and Regent’s Park both make appearances, while the makers gave the two thespians homes in Kentish Town.
Covent Garden, the AKA Bar above The End in Holborn and Middlesex Hospital also appear.
O’Toole’s Oscar nomination shows how this film has touched a nerve in the US.
Such plaudits are not always good indicators of whether a film is actually worth the admission price, but Venus certainly is.
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