Roman Polanski to direct wife in Venus in Fur film

Art looks set to imitate life as Roman Polanski prepares to direct his wife in a film about a director's shifting, compromised relationship with his muse. Venus in Fur , adapted from the Tony award-winning stage-play by David Ives, will star Emmanuelle Seigner as Vanda, the apparently fragile actor who auditions for a role in a sadomasochistic drama. French actor Louis Garrel has signed on to play the director. Polanski's version of Venus in Fur will relocate the action from New York to Paris, the director's regular base since he fled the US in 1978. "I've been looking for a chance to make a film in French with Emmanuelle for a long time," he said in a statement. "Reading Venus in Fur, I realised the moment had arrived." Seigner, 46, has previously worked with Polanski on Frantic, Bitter Moon and The Ninth Gate. Polanski's film credits include Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and the Oscar-winning Holocaust drama The Pianist. His last picture, 2011's Carnage , adapted from the Yasmina Reza stage-play, was a hot-house domestic drama – chiefly notable for a barnstorming scene in which Kate Winslet vomits copiously over a coffee-table. Venus in Fur is backed by Lionsgate and co-scripted by Polanski and Ives. It begins shooting in November.