The Lover (film)
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For the original novel, see The Lover
| The Lover | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
| Produced by | Claude Berri |
| Written by | Marguerite Duras (novel) Jean-Jacques Annaud Gérard Brach |
| Narrated by | Jeanne Moreau |
| Starring | Tony Leung Ka Fai Jane March Arnaud Giovaninetti Frédérique Meninger Melvil Poupaud Lisa Faulkner |
| Music by | Gabriel Yared |
| Cinematography | Robert Fraisse |
| Editing by | Noelle Boisson |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) |  22 January 1992 |
| Running time | 115 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Lover is a 1992 movie based on this novel, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Jane March and Tony Leung Ka Fai. The cast also included Lisa Faulkner. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. A radio dramatisation, starring Diana Quick and Olivia Hallinan, which was rather more faithful to Duras's novel than the film, was broadcast in September 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Set against the backdrop of French colonial Vietnam, The Lover reveals the intimacies and intricacies of a clandestine romance between a pubescent girl (Jane March) from a financially strapped French family and an older, wealthy Chinese man (Tony Leung Ka-Fai). The story is narrated by Jeanne Moreau, portraying a writer looking back on her youth.
In 1929, a 15 year old nameless girl is traveling by ferry across the Mekong Delta, returning from a holiday at her family home in the village of Sa Dec, to her boarding school in Saigon. She attracts the attention of a 32 year old son of a Chinese business magnate, a young man of wealth and heir to a fortune. He strikes up a conversation with the girl; she accepts a ride back to town in his chauffeured limousine.
Compelled by the circumstances of her upbringing, this girl, the daughter of a bankrupt, manic-depressive widow, is newly awakened to the impending and all-too-real task of making her way alone in the world. Thus, she becomes his lover, until an arranged marriage forces him into a choice between tradition, family, and honor on the one hand, and a love that he claims to be "too weak" to pursue on the other.
For her lover, there is no question of the depth and sincerity of his love, but it isn't until much later that the girl acknowledges to herself her true feelings.
[edit] Production
The film is noted for several sexually explicit scenes. (March had five body doubles, while Leung had two.)[citation needed] It has also been alleged that one of the sex scenes in the film was unsimulated.[citation needed] This was not immediately denied by the filmmakers for publicity reasons.[citation needed]
When the film opened, it gained notoriety for its portrayal of an under-aged protagonist. Jane March turned 18 during the the filming of this movie.
[edit] Cast
- Jane March ... The Young Girl
- Tony Leung Ka Fai ... The Chinaman
- Frédérique Meininger ... The Mother
- Arnaud Giovaninetti ... The Elder Brother
- Melvil Poupaud ... The Younger Brother
- Lisa Faulkner ... Helene Lagonelle
- Xiem Mang ... The Chinaman's Father
- Philippe Le Dem ... The French Teacher
- Ann Schaufuss ... Anne-Marie Stretter
- Quach Van An ... The Driver
- Tania Torrens ... The Principal
- Raymonde Heudeline ... The Writer (end)
- Yvonne Wingerter ... The Writer (beginning)
- Do Minh Vien ... The Young Boy
- Hélène Patarot ... The Assistant Mistress
[edit] External links
- The Lover at the Internet Movie Database
