In the past week I’ve watched Venus and Transamerica. The first is very British, the second wholly American. Nevertheless, they’re remarkably similar in many ways. Odd relationships, taboo subjects, the search for self, moral ambiguity and social disgust are dealt with cleverly by both. Transamerica is the funnier and the more uplifting (although it’s no comedy) while Venus is probably a little more challenging. This is mainly because, when men get beyond retirement, it is rather unfairly assumed that they should not lust after young, beautiful women.