The Lovers (1958) Les amants (original title)

Director:

Louis Malle

Writer:

Louise de Vilmorin (dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

26 October 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

THIS WAS HER MOMENT!...and nothing else mattered!

Plot:

Bored with her husband, bored with her polo-playing lover, will the middle-aged heroine go away with...

Plot Keywords:

Lovers | Weekend | Dijon | Polo | Burgundy

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeanne Moreau	...	Jeanne Tournier
Jean-Marc Bory	...	Bernard Dubois-Lambert
Judith Magre	...	Maggy Thiebaut-Leroy
José Luis de Vilallonga	...	Raoul Flores (as José Villalonga)
Gaston Modot	...	Coudray
Pierre Frag
Michèle Girardon	...	La secrétaire
Gib Grossac
Lucienne Hamon	...	Chantal
Georgette Lobre	...	Marthe
Claude Mansard	...	Marcelot (as Claude Mansart)
Alain Cuny	...	Henri Tournier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Un garçon a manège (uncredited)
Patricia Maurin	...	Catherine, fille de Jeanne (uncredited)

Directed by
Louis Malle

Writing credits
Louise de Vilmorin		(dialogue)
Dominique Vivant		(novel "Point de Lendemain") uncredited

Cinematography by
Henri Decaë		(director of photography) (as Henri Decae)

Film Editing by
Léonide Azar

Production Design by
Bernard Evein

Set Decoration by
Jacques Saulnier

Makeup Department
Gisèle Jacquin	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Irénée Leriche	....	production manager
Hubert Mérial	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alain Cavalier	....	assistant director
François Leterrier	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Charles Merangel	....	property master

Sound Department
Pierre-André Bertrand	....	sound engineer (as Pierre Bertrand)

Camera and Electrical Department
André Bouladoux	....	key grip
Vincent Rossell	....	photographer
André Villard	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Madeleine Bibollet	....	assistant editor
Kenout Peltier	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Serge Baudo	....	conductor
Johannes Brahms	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Francine Corteggiani	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Distributors

• Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France (1958) (France) (theatrical)
• Zenith International Films (1959) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Arte Vidéo (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Kinokuniya (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Film Express (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Poste Parisien  sound post-production
• Franstudio  studio
• Chanel  costumes: for Jeanne Moreau (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Les amants" - France (original title)

Runtime:

Argentina:90 min | Canada:88 min (Québec)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | Canada:G (Québec) | USA:Not Rated | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Bois de Boulogne, Paris 16, Paris, France

Company:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Trivia:

After screening this film, Nico Jacobellis, manager of the Heights Art Theater in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was charged with and convicted of possessing and exhibiting an obscene film. He appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court, which overturned the convictions, ruling that the film was not obscene. In a concurring opinion, Justice Potter Stewart made his famous pronouncement concerning what was pornography: "I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 197 (1964) (Stewart, J., concurring).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Alex in Wonderland (1970)

Soundtrack:

Streichsextett No. 1

Needy for Love and Happiness

The bored and empty upper-class Jeanne Tournier (Jeanne Moreau) lives in a manor with many servants in the countryside of Dijon with her husband Henri Tournier (Alain Cuny) and their daughter Catherine. Henri is the editor of The Burgundy Monitor and has been married to Jeanne for eight years, but he does not give much attention to his wife. Jeanne travels frequently to the house of her childhood friend Maggy Thiebaut-Leroy (Judith Magre) in Paris to meet her lover, the famous polo player Raoul Flores (José Villalonga).

One day, Henri suspects of the frequent trips of Jeanne to Paris and invites Maggy and Raoul Flores to have dinner and spend the weekend in his mansion. While driving back home from Paris, Jeanne car breaks down and the archaeologist Bernard Dubois-Lambert (Jean-Marc Bory) that is going to Montbard to visit a professor, gives a ride to Jeanne. Henri invites Bernard to stay with them and during the night, he has a love affair with Jeanne. On the next morning, Jeanne decides to go away from Henri, Catherine and Raoul with her new lover.

"Les Amants" is the second film of Louis Malle and I can imagine the impact of this amoral story in 1958, with a mother leaving her daughter to seek true love with her younger lover. The muse of many filmmakers Jeanne Moreau is gorgeous and sensual in the role of a woman ahead her time needy for love and happiness. The cinematography in black and white is wonderful and the open conclusion fits perfectly to this sensual film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Amantes" ("The Lovers")