Venus is a 2006 British comedy-drama film directed by Roger Michell and produced by Kevin Loader, from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The film stars Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, Jodie Whittaker, Richard Griffiths and Vanessa Redgrave.
Venus had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on 2 September 2006, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on 21 December 2006 and a wide release in the United Kingdom on 26 January 2007. O'Toole's performance in the film was met with critical acclaim, earning him his eighth and final Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
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Plot
Maurice Russell is an elderly actor who finds himself increasingly attracted to his friend Ian's grand-niece Jessie, while simultaneously finding himself in deteriorating health owing to prostate cancer. Maurice's friend describes the grand-niece as a troublemaker and a nuisance, but Maurice discovers that Jessie warms to him when he starts interacting with her. He takes her to the National Gallery in London to view his favourite painting, the Rokeby Venus, by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez.
Jessie had expressed interest in modelling (Maurice initially mishears this as "yodelling"), and Maurice arranges for Jessie to model nude for an art class. As a result of Jessie posing for the art class, and inspired by his favourite painting, Maurice decides to give Jessie the nickname "Venus". Maurice and Jessie develop a passive/aggressive relationship over the course of the film. Maurice is forward in terms of his attraction towards Jessie, while Jessie occasionally indulges his whims to a limited extent, such as touching her hand and smelling her neck, but also retracts the indulgences when she feels that he has gone too far. The plot of the film revolves around the evolving friendship or relationship between the two characters. For Maurice, this appears to be the last attempt at something approaching a love life, as his prostate operation has left him impotent. For Jessie, it is less clear what she sees in Maurice. During the course of the film, we see her do everything from exploiting him (trying to get him to buy her presents, trying to use his flat to have sex with a boy), taking care of him, flirting with him, and rejecting him sexually to engaging with him as a friend. During the course of the film, we learn that she has been rejected by her mother and great-uncle for her promiscuous lifestyle; it is implied that she is drawn to Maurice because he does not judge her as harshly as her family members have.