In his unforgettable telling of the short, deplorable existence of the “Hottentot Venus”—née Saartjie Baartman, a slave from Cape Town who was exhibited as a freak-show attraction in early 19th-century Europe—Abdellatif Kechiche (The Secret of the Grain) delivers a riveting examination of racism.
Gawked at and groped in grimy carnivals in London and, later, high-society Parisian salons, Baartman soon becomes the object of prurient fascination of French scientists, obsessed with calibrating every part of her anatomy—particularly her enlarged buttocks and genitals. Though Baartman’s life was unspeakably grim, Yahima Torres’s remarkably complex portrayal of the title character reveals not just a mute symbol of victimhood but also a woman capable of fierce defiance. North American Premiere. –NYFF
Abdellatif Kechiche (Arabic: عبد اللطيف كشيش, born December 7, 1960 in Tunis, Tunisia) is an actor, movie director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut in 2000 with La Faute à Voltaire (Blame it on Voltaire), aka Poetical Refugee, which he also wrote. He also directed L’Esquive, which won a César Award for Best Film and Best Director. He has presented recently his last film La Graine et le Mulet on 64th Mostra del Cinema at Venezia for which he was awarded the Special Jury Prize, the FIPRESCI Prize, such as later the Louis Delluc Prize and others César Awards for Best Film and Best Director.
As an actor, his introduction to most English-speaking audiences was starring as Ashade the taxi driver in the 2005 psychological thriller “Sorry, Haters”, an “official selection” in both the Toronto and American Film Institute’s film festivals. —Wikipedia
El hombre es el lobo del hombre…y de la mujer. Estremecedor recuento (basado en hechos reales) de la trágica existencia de Saartjie Baartman, una mujer bosquimana quien por sus características anatómicas y sus genitales hipertrofiados, fué explotada sexual y laboralmente en su papel de fenómeno circense, ante la morbosa mirada y los prejuicios racistas tanto del gremio científico como del público parisino y londinense del siglo XIX. Demoledor discurso sobre la responsabilidad colectiva e historica de una sociedad que asistió impávida (que no cómplice) a la degradación moral y fisica de un ser humano, este tercer largometraje de Kechiche puede resultar una experiencia muy irritante y bastante difícil de digerir, pero totalmente imprescindible, cuya efectividad se sostiene en la contundencia del guión escrito por el propio Abdellatif Kechiche y Ghalya Laroix, en la sórdida belleza de la fotografía de Lubomir Bakchev, y primordialmente, en el emotivo desempeño de la joven actriz cubana Yahima Torres.
in dire need of editing and fine tuning. i left after enduring over two hours, figuring the end couldn't be worth enduring much more of the same in order to get there.
Abdellatif Kechiche's "riveting" Black Venus is "built around the phenomenal lead performance of Yahima Torres," writes Melissa Anderson
Malgré l’histoire (éprouvante), la qualité de la réalisation numérique (filmant les visages de très près), les acteurs (excellents), la reconstitution… le film est bien trop long et lent pour ne pas… read review
The last movie i saw at this years NY Film Fest was Black Venus. As flawed as this movie may have been, at the end of the day it was a step forward in black film (if there even is such a thing). For… read review