Before start I need to say that the cast is great especially Yahima Torres as the title character. Its an Oscar worthy performance, unfortunately it's buried in a film that is abusive to its audience as it is to the title character.

I saw this at the first screening at the NYFF and when it was over the audience around me wanted to find and kill the director. The audience was subdued, or rather the audience that remained was subdued and was mumbling about what would have made the film better...

This is the story of Saartjie 'Sarah' Baartman, best known as the Hottentot Venus, a woman of unique proportions who was exhibited all over Europe and died a tragic death. The film is told in flashback and starts with a lecture where her body parts are exhibited, and then flashes back to her days in London before taking us all the way back to her dissection. Its a warts and all look at the abuse she suffered in her life.

Nasty unpleasant unending film that is nothing but a repetitive catalog of the abuses that Baartman suffered in her life. It goes on and an on as she's abused in shows, by scientists, in sex shows, in brothels and as a streetwalker. There is no light no character only abuse.

The idea is that we are suppose to be made to feel complicit in the abuse and we are supposed to feel something but after almost three hours of GRAPHIC abuse wears you down. You go numb and if you were part of the audience at Alice Tully Hall you want to find the director and hit him.

While I wasn't driven to homicidal thoughts I was bored after a certain part and by the time she's cut up and put into jars I didn't much care.

On the other hand the news footage that plays during the end credits of her remains being returned to South Africa brought me to tears, but it would have done so even if I hadn't been abused for three hours.

Honestly the director makes his point after ten minutes and doesn't need two hours and a half hour more to repeat the point. By doing so he loses the argument and the audience.

This film is NOT for the faint of heart. Nothing is censored, just the bare naked (literally) truth. Black Venus tells the true story of Sarah (Baptized name) Baartman, a South African woman of Khoisan descent who in the early 19th century was led on false pretenses of fame and fortune to England only to be exploited for her body.

I watched this film with a basic understanding of Sarah's biography. With this in mind, I am a little surprised that the film didn't get a higher rating. Yes, it is difficult to watch. Yes, it shows exploitation and abuse at its finest (if that's even the correct word to use here). Yes, there is shocking and pornographic scenes that are not suitable for the faint of heart. Yes, you will be disgusted.

But you should be. This is a very accurate portrayal of what happened to the true "Venus of Hottentot." She was exploited for her body, people paid to touch her buttocks and her genitalia was a matter of scientific intrigue. This movie is not a pleasant watch, but the topic itself is not a pleasant truth. This is a dark side of history that is difficult to explore, and the director and the main actress do a wonderful job of portraying it as such.

History buffs, this film is for you - especially if you are interested in African/Women's history. For the faint of heart, avoid this film - and for the curious, make sure you know fully well what you're getting into.

With "Vénus noire"Abdellatif Kechiche tells the story of Sarah Baartman, an African born from the Khoisan Tribe who was a slave of a Dutch farmer. She went with the brother of her slave owner on an Exhibition, a "Freak" Tour in England with the promise of a wealthy future. Then Sarah Baartman was sold to a Frenchman, who took her to his country. An animal trainer, Réaux, exhibited her under more pressured conditions for fifteen months. Overall Sarah Baartman was exhibited around Britain and France from 1810 to 1815, entertaining people by exposing her nude buttocks and her highly unusual bodily features. She had large buttocks and the elongated labia of some Khoisan women. Towards the end of her life she became the subject of several scientific paintings at the Jardin du Roi, where she was examined in March 1815 by George Cuvier, head keeper of the menagerie at the musée national d'Histoire naturelle. Seek and forgotten by the Parisians, she began to drink heavily and supported herself with prostitution in brothel and then in the streets. She died of an undetermined inflammatory ailment on December 29, 1815. Even after her Death her body continued to be exploited by others and her skeleton, preserved genitals and brain were placed on display in Paris' musée de l'Homme until 1974. In 1994 President Nelson Mandela formally requested that France return the remains and it's only in 2002, May the 6th that her remains were repatriated to her homeland and were buried on August 9 of the same year.

Obviously this dramatic and terrible story is not for everyone and I strongly suggest the most emotionally fragile people among us to read about the Sarah Baartman's story instead of watching Abdellatif Kechiche's film. "Vénus noire" remains an interesting film as Sarah Baartman's story is to be told so that we understand how Difference, the fear of it, the non understanding of it can trigger the most inhuman sentiment, which lies in the darkest place of our soul in one word: Racism. However in 2 hours and 40 minutes, Abdellatif Kechiche abuses the audience with too many despicable scenes, too many scenes of dehumanization and degradation. So many that you find yourself in a overdose state. At some point I wanted to leave the Theater. I didn't pay to "look" but Abdellatif Kechiche places the audience in a voyeurism sit that makes you so uncomfortable your eyes flee the screen searching for the blackness of the Theater room. Even if there is a reason for us to be gradually placed within different environments so we understand that racism isn't bound to a Country or a social class it is still very tough to keep absorbing shocking images on a continuous basis. We are transported from the vulgar and popular crowd of London to the vicious and decadent Bourgeoisie of Paris and eventually to a so called scientific experiment. One can easily draw the conclusion that whatever form of Racism we are confronted to, none of them is humanly or intellectually acceptable. In fact all of them are profoundly revolting.

Beside its heavy content and shocking scenes that for sure will polarize the audience, the film is also served with an outstanding cast. The main actress Yahima Torres is very convincing in a very difficult role. But all actors (Andre Jacobs, Olivier Gourmet) display skills in their respective interpretation, skills that trigger emotions, we hate, we curse, we're ashamed, we're shocked and we're upset during 2h40 of cinematic maelstrom.