The Lover

The Lover
by Jean-Jacques Annaud

The Lover
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DVD details

Actor: Arnaud Giovaninetti, Fr?d?rique Meininger, Jane March, Melvil Poupaud, Tony Leung Ka Fai
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Cinematographer: Robert Fraisse
Writer: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Producer: Claude Berri
Producer: Jacques Tronel
Producer: Timothy Burrill
Writer: G?rard Brach
Writer: Marguerite Duras
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-12-11
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)

DVD Reviews of The Lover

DVD Review: delicious
Summary: 5 Stars

This is one of the most delicious movies about sex and coming of age in a long time. Tony Leung is the sexiest human being ever to wear a white linen suit. Duras' novel is faithfully and pain-stakingly honored by the screen play.

Send me down the Mekong river in a fedora and braids, please.

DVD Review: Tea: Yes, please, and I'll probably have another cup shortly
Summary: 4 Stars

Overall, a very enjoyable movie, both story wise and visually.
This is not a 'quickie' movie, get in get out. This story really paints the entire and complete picture of young girl's life and her first sexual encounter and is set back in time in Saigon. I enjoyed the characters and was surprised to find the leading man, more gentler than I would have expected (he's not a guy you'd find in a biker bar).
There were some slow parts, for me, but I understand the desire to tell the whole story. I thought the mix of narration and actually being present in that moment very interesting. They also did a nice job with the sex scenes, though on some I wish they had moved the camera closer to the action or at least gave more hints of it.
The ending was very good. You felt for both of the lovers and their journey of self discovery and growth.
Too bad they didn't make a series...

DVD Review: LOVED IT!!
Summary: 5 Stars

If your looking for an independent sort of film this is the one! The movie can really place you in Saigon. The story is a forbidden romance that you can either relate to or want to. Please do not watch with children around there are some very explicit sex scenes. Enjoy!!

DVD Review: Love the story line
Summary: 3 Stars

I read all the other reviews online about this movie and I must say after viewing the movie I was very disappointed. I love the storyline but the expression of deep passion which could only be felt in the sex scene was always shown in darkness. This kind of deep passion could only be captured by the intimate scenes which was sort of hidden from the viewer.

DVD Review: Love Until Death
Summary: 4 Stars

Please note: I will be giving some of the plot away.

For anyone who views this film and thinks "underage sex" and/or "porn", there are some subtleties that need to be explored.

There is no reason to believe that the Chinaman sought out underage girls. If anything, his station in Chinese royalty probably provided him with female companionship until (and perhaps after) his arranged marriage.

Through no effort on his part the schoolgirl appeared in his orbit and he found himself unable to look away. This is a rare thing to experience and it is awfully hard to resist.

If we generally only see Leung and March having sex, we need to factor in that her jailbait status and the inter-racial nature of their relationship would not have allowed them to carry on a normal courtship. The sex was just about all that was left to them (and the director).

It was tragic not to see these two end up together, but there was a redeeming event at the end of this movie that made it worth my while.

In his old age Leung wrote to March that he would "love her until death". Society dictates that when two people part ways they must let each other go and move on. Rarely do we give or receive the assurance of on-going love in a situation like this. If both are in agreement that the relationship should not continue, this is a rare, beautiful, and appropriate gem to store away in one's heart.

Description of The Lover

From the novel of the same namewhich has sold over one million copies in 43 languagesthis "sophisticated adaptation of Marguerite Duras' best-selling memoirs" (Variety) smolders on the screen. "Masterfully acted and beautifully photographed" (Critics' Choice), The Lover brilliantly captures the essence of sexual awakening and forbidden desire like no other film has donebeforeor since. Jane March is mesmerizing in the role of a poor French teenager who engages in an illicit affair with a wealthy Chinese heir (Tony Leung) in 1920s Saigon. For the first time in her young life she has control, and she wields it deftly over her besotted lover throughout a series of clandestine meetings and torrid encounters. But though the lovers are able to transcend their differences in age, race and class'theirs is a future that French colonial Vietnamese society will never allow.
Lovely to look at, this story reveals little more than the characters' nude bodies. Like couples whose only attraction is physical, this has little to offer once it leaves the bedroom. We never learn the interests or inner workings of the lovers in question. They become nothing more than attractive bodies, which makes this little more than a shallow exercise in sexuality. The story is based on the controversial, and supposedly autobiographical, bestseller by experimental French novelist Marguerite Duras. It tells the story of a young French schoolgirl who becomes sexually involved with a sophisticated, older Asian man. Set in Indochina in the late 1920s, this is stunningly photographed and artfully directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. That said, the lack of a more satisfying plot means this is merely tastefully produced soft porn. --Rochelle O'Gorman

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