Black Venus

Black Venus is a 1983 softcore erotic melodrama film directed by Claude Mulot. It purportedly is based on an unspecified short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was produced by Playboy Enterprises and originally aired in an edited 80-minute version on the Playboy Channel; an uncut English-dubbed version was released on DVD in 2006. Plot When wealthy art collector Jacques (Emiliano Redondo) visits a Parisian brothel operated by Madame Lili (Mandy Rice-Davies), he recognizes one of the prostitutes as Venus (Josephine Jacqueline Jones), a black Martinican woman. In a flashback, Jacques remembers introducing Venus to a gifted but impoverished sculptor, Armand (José Antonio Ceinos), who persuaded Venus to become his art model and lover. Armand grew increasingly obsessed with Venus and the statue of her that he was working on. To help Armand pay rent, Venus took work as a model for a dressmaker, Madame Jean (Helga Liné). Several of Madame Jean's customers became enamored with Venus, among them Marie (Karin Schubert), a wealthy woman whose husband was often absent. Venus earned so much as a model that Armand accused her of being a prostitute. Eventually Armand's obsession, jealousy and growing violence drove Venus away and she moved in with Marie as a kept woman. When Marie's husband Pierre returned home during a society ball, he discovered Venus in his home and ordered her to have sex with Louise (Florence Guérin), a 17-year old rural girl he had seduced with wealth. Pierre then invited several party guests to rape Louise, leading Venus to flee the house and return to work for Madame Jean. Venus later crossed paths with Louise, who had become a prostitute at Madame Lili's brothel. Louise persuaded Venus to join her in working for Madame Lili.