Film: L'Amant (The Lover)

[mariacallas]

One of my favorite sad, love stories.
From imdb:

Well thought out and interestingly humanistic tale, which happens to be a biographical account by Marguerite Duras, of her life in French Indochina (Vietnam), circa 1920's. This could be well considered an interracial LOLITA.

A fifteen and a half year old girl's family is of severely modest means, almost broke. Her older brother is a no account, gambling, drunken lout. Her younger brother is sickly, and her mother is at wits end.

The little girl catches the eye of a wealthy, Chinese merchant's son, who's almost thirty. She cautiously welcomes the attention, even if not fully understanding as to where it might lead. The little girl knows too little emotionally, than she learns/knows physically. The man is is deep, mesmerizing love. Paths and cultures clash.

An interesting story that will challenge and entertain. Starring Jane March, the very talented Tony Leung Ka Fai, Frederique Meininger, Arnaud Giovanetti and Melvil Poupaud.

Has anybody else seen this movie directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud ? I have the DVD and I've watched it about five times, lol....the book is also very good. One of the rare times where the movie is as excellent as the book itself. Jane March and Tony Leung are simply fantastic in this one.....and it doesnt hurt that the cinematography , music and direction is stunning too.


"The burst of Chopin under a sky lit up with brilliancies...There wasn't a breath of wind and the music spread all over the dark boat, like a heavenly injunction whose import was unknown, like an order from God whose meaning was inscrutable...and afterwards, she wept because she thought of the man from Cholon and suddenly she wasn't sure she hadn't loved him with a love she hadn't seen because it had lost itself in the affair like water in sand and she rediscovered it only now, through this moment of music flung across the sea."

 

[mariacallas]

Also...can i have a poll pls?
I also found this review which sums up how I feel too:

I first saw this movie when I was younger, as one of the most graphic "mainstream" movies available. That was before I ever knew what the word "soft-core" meant.

I watched it again, when I was older, and I finally understand it. The quiet sequences and unemotional facade of the female lead are no longer just boring filler between the exciting love scenes. Perhaps it's because I needed a little more life experience to know the unexpressed feelings of the female character and the expressed feelings of the male character. Sure, this movie is about taboo and tasting forbidden fruit. This movie is about sex. But this movie also has very strong depictions of the other emotions involved in the affair. Shame. Guilt. Racial and social prejudice. Love which is explored when both parties know there can be no future. Emotional detachment born out of necessity, as a "defense mechanism". Being ostracized by your peers, and life in an environment rife with vicious rumors. But mostly the shame and guilt. It's made clearer to me what a former lover of mine may have felt.

To live through all that and then to watch this movie makes for a very personal, moving experience. I can't recommend it to everyone, since every movie experience is unique. But I can say that "The Lover" is much, much more than just an excuse for graphic love scenes. It's a story of a reminiscence... a first time... a shameful secret... a hidden love, fostered through hardship and burning into the mind of the narrator an indelible, permanent mark of memory of a first, life-shaping lover...

 

[Banquo]

Lover (

poll pls added %)