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24 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
A signature Nastassja Kinski film., 9 December 2003

Author: Carl S Lau from Los Angeles, California

Set in the immediate post World War II in the small rural picturesque American town of Brownsville, Pennsylvania among Yugoslavian immigrants, `Maria's Lovers' follows a young soldier with the name of Ivan Bibec, played by John Savage, who has been discharged from the Army, into his home town. The film seems to unfold slowly upon first viewing, but that is misleading because it has been very tightly edited and one can only pick up some of the nuances of the film by watching it a second and/or a third time. Nastassja Kinski is Maria Bosic and is the central character in the film. The supporting cast is first rate with Anita Morris, Robert Mitchum and Keith Carradine. The film has a European feel to it because of the direction of Andrei Konchalovsky, meaning that it is sparse and compact, yet exquisitely framed. Early on, Ivan marries his sweetheart, Maria, and the rest of the film deals with love and infidelity and how it impacts the two main characters and their marriage.

1984 found Nastassja Kinski in four film releases: `Unfaithfully Yours' a nice light comedy, `The Hotel New Hampshire' (a Nastassja disaster in which she initially appears in a bear costume and is so happy to escape it that she does one cartwheel at the end of the film), the Wim Wenders' legendary `Paris, Texas' in which she appears in the last part of the film, and then there was `Maria's Lovers' in which she was the featured and marquee performer. In `Maria's Lovers,' Nastassja has to carry the film in a very difficult role that would stretch any actress's abilities and skills. Of the forty plus Nastassja movies that I have seen, this is probably her best role and performance. Nastassja's Maria is textured and rich with innocence, shyness, passion, vulnerability, and character strength. If anything, Nastassja Kinski is chameleon like because she so easily blends into the film and yet her character is quite distinctive with depth, dealing with the irrationalities of love, intimacy, and infidelity. In a sense, `Maria's Lovers' is an end point for Nastassja because she was finally able to integrate everything into one performance. There is little question that Nastassja Kinski is foremost a dramatic actress of unparalleled skills that can be subtle or dynamic or anything in between when on the screen. Coupled with her singular striking beauty and expressive eyes, she is a package that very few actresses can ever hope to equal. Nastassja intuitively knows how to move on screen, have the proper inflections in her voice, use her face and eyes as an ever changing canvas, project intelligence and sensuality, and be charismatic with great screen presence. This was nothing less than a superb performance.

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18 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Beautiful film nobody know s about ----, 30 April 2005
Author: karensha from United States

Saw this film long ago and thought it was beautiful and moving. It was imperative to understanding this film to know that during the time the husband was imprisoned, Maria's picture had become a religious icon for him. SHe had become a saint in his mind, and therefore the problems resulting with him unable to treat Maria as a real woman after his return from the war. It is important to know that Orthodox religions pray through the Saints. Her picture was the only thing he had to keep sane during his prisoner of war years, so it was of immense importance. THe short black and white war scene at the beginning of the film had to be considered very carefully before one could understand the horrors this man had endured. It is important to realise, especially today, that men come back from war changed, although we stay the same.

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10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Love, sex and the distance between, 31 October 2002
Author: stevie_bebop from Edinburgh, Scotland

I haven't seen this since it came out but I still talk about it when discussing the nature of love. It deals well with an issue I believe many people can relate to: the fine line between love and hate. The whole point [I believe] of the movie is to illustrate how John Savage's inability to make love to his wife is because he loves her too purely and only once that innocent worship has been tarnished can he consummate his marriage and love his wife completely.

If you've ever wondered why your best sexual memories are of people you didn't love then this movie is for you.

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8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Savage Love, 25 February 2004

Author: nathalie tomaszewski from Seattle

One reason to want to watch this movie is to see perform one of the most talented actresses of her generation, Nastassja Kinski. Others: Her traumatized husband coming back from WWII, a perfectly suited role for Mr John Savage. The plot is simple and misleading, The scenes full of suspense yet stealing our breath at the least expecting moment. This movie reminds us of what acting used to be and how subtlety creates miracles. Simple and excellent.

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7 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Anguished and moving story, 10 April 2000

Author: Raymond Tan from Singapore

A World War II soldier (Savage) returns to marry his old lover (Kinski) but his inability to father a child leads to the destruction of their marriage. The couple goes through a series of tribulations before coming together again. Savage gives a so-so performance as the tormented husband who loses the will to commit to the sanctity of the marriage bond. Kinski gives her most versatile and inspired performance ever as the anguished wife. If anything, watch her. The director, Andrei Konchalovsky, is actually Russian. The movie is a pastiche of styles from American and European film-making. Strong powerful storytelling through the chronology of time tinged with the emotional pathos that is typical of most European films. In the end, the mix is a bit jagged and mismatched, but this doesn't stray from an otherwise strong and moving movie.

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Do Or Divorce, 4 April 2012

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Maria's Lovers casts Natassia Kinski and John Savage as a pair of young Slavic second generation Americans in Western Pennsylvania who get married after World War II and presumably like most will live the American dream happily ever after.

Not quite so happily though because Savage has some real issues and who wouldn't after surviving a Japanese prison camp. In fact his well meaning but quite fatuous father Robert Mitchum asks Savage why didn't he try and escape. This was obviously a man who had seen too many American gangster flicks where Cagney/Bogart/Raft are always crashing out of the big house.

Mitchum is fatuous about that, but he does say to Savage not to rush into things. As well he shouldn't with his issues. Wedding night comes and he can't do the deed.

Which leaves Kinski looking for a little love in all the wrong places. And charming itinerant entertainer Keith Carradine picks up on it.

The issue of impotence and its infinite number of causes was dealt with a lot better in the British classic film, The Family Way. It's not as simple as it is made out here where Savage's very manhood is called into question and it's a do or divorce situation.

Best in the film is Keith Carradine who is really quite amoral. Makes his character from Nashville look like an Eagle Scout. And of course Robert Mitchum always adds something to any film he's in.

I have to say though I was left as unfulfilled as Natassia on her wedding night.

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Too distant to get involved, 13 July 2011
Author: Wizard-8 from Victoria, BC

The term "Cannon art film" may seem like a kind of oxymoron if you are familiar with the typical product producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus made when they ran the Cannon studio. But they did make a few dabs towards artistic productions, this being one of them. And there are some good things to say about this movie. Despite being a low budget movie, the period detail is pretty good, and so are the rest of the production values. The acting by everyone involved is also good, with Keith Carradine the actor who steals the show.

Unfortunately, I could not get involved in the central story involving the Kinski and Savage characters, mainly because we are kept at a distance from them. We never really get to see what makes them tick inside their heads. Also, the movie is stretched out far too long (the running time is 109 minutes) - a somewhat shorter running time would have made the movie better.

Don't get me wrong - this isn't a BAD movie. It never became boring, for one thing. But it does end up being somewhat of a disappointment.

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1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Passive characters make the film feel tedious, 26 March 2010

Author: (samofilmfan@aol.com) from Santa Monica, CA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Beautifully shot – almost too beautifully given the mundane storyline – and unevenly acted, the film deserves kudos for an intelligent rendering of an adult problem: the post-traumatic stress of a returning WW2 vet, and the miseries it puts him and his wife through.

The dramatic thrust of the film – erroneously labeled European by some viewers – is hampered, not by its slow unfolding, but by passive characters. John Savage is sometimes strong and sometimes not in his portrayal, but he's been stymied by a script that has him only desultorily going after various goals. Maria, a far better if still uneven performance by Nastassja Kinski (whose talent is strong; the inconsistency is clearly the director's fault), also only gradually commits to her husband. That's fine and real but with only minor characters (Vincent Spano, Keith Caradine) strongly after an objective, the movie is moribund at its center for much of its running time. (Robert Mitchum's character and performance are both dismal.)

The film gathers some tension once Nastassja is mit Kind, and Savage's predicament reaches the breaking point. The resolution is somewhat satisfying though not entirely credible (Savage feels more like a life-long alcoholic at this point) and comes about through his chance meeting with Caradine's philanderer.

More literary than filmic in its construction, the movie's best feature is Nastassja's performance. But because her life, like her husband's, feels more acted upon than really lived, the movie just lumbers.

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5 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Someone call Leslie Bricusse, 23 February 2006

Author: Dave Wilson from United States

The director is credited with the song "Maria's Eyes", but having just seen a theater version of Dr. Dolittle, I heard a song that sounded too similar for coincidence: "When I Look in Your Eyes", written by Leslie Bricusse. However, I'll grant that the original lacks something by being sung to a seal instead of Natassja Kinksi.

Aside from the musical borrowing, you have to admire Konchalovsky for wanting to tackle the material, revolving around small-town characters and impotence; he really brings out the dignified melancholy of a rust-belt town with steep streets, passing freight trains, weak sunlight and beautiful countryside. The movie is uneven in places, mostly from the performances: Kinski seems unsure whether to play her character modestly or with sashaying allure; Savage has a tough job playing an unsympathetic character, but sometimes makes it worse with explosive histrionics; Mitchum is stuck with bad dialog ("those eyes"). Raising the movie above these problems is a good basic story, affecting shots and images, and the majority of Kinski and Savage's scenes together.

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0 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
You dreamed about her too long., 28 April 2010

Author: Steve Skafte from Nova Scotia, Canada

"Maria's Lovers" is, first of all, a beautiful-looking film. Juan Ruiz Anchía does a fantastic job photographing the film, making wonderful use of light. Scene after scene is brilliantly framed and shot, at times feeling like a series of photographs. Anchía and director Andrei Konchalovsky make a great team. But this is essential to make a film such as this watchable, because the general attitude of virtually every character is endlessly frustrating. Most are motivated by sex, some by fear, some by greed, some by possessiveness, some by misguided innocence.

There are no particular flaws in any of the performances. Kinski, Savage, Mitchum and Carradine create characters of real depth. There are times when "Maria's Lovers" has the overpowering sense of being made in the mold of the great classic tragedies. Which is to say, everyone is more miserable more often than is entirely likely in real life. But I could be wrong, and perhaps there are lives which very closely parallel those shown here. Either way, it is a supremely difficult, painful, intense, and ultimately believable picture. To the right audience, it could very nearly be considered perfect. It's a clean, true, human depiction.

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