Un amour de Swann (1984)

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

Peter Brook (writer)
Jean-Claude Carrière (writer)

Release Date:

23 February 1984 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Volker Schlöndorff's Masterly Film

Plot:

Elegant and educated bachelor, Charles Swann, moves in the most powerful and fashionable circles of Paris in the 1890's...

Plot Keywords:

Paris France | Sex | Proust | Marcel Proust | Orchid

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 2 wins

Cast

Jeremy Irons	...	Charles Swann
Ornella Muti	...	Odette de Crecy
Alain Delon	...	Baron de Charlus
Fanny Ardant	...	Duchesse de Guermantes
Marie-Christine Barrault	...	Madame Verdurin
Anne Bennent	...	Chloe
Nathalie Juvet	...	Madame Cottard
Charlotte Kerr	...	Sous-maitresse
Catherine Lachens	...	Aunt
Philippine Pascal	...	Madame Gallardon
Charlotte de Turckheim	...	Madame de Cambremer
Nicolas Baby	...	Young Jew
Jean-François Balmer	...	Dr. Cottard
Jacques Boudet	...	Duke de Guermantes
Jean-Pierre Coffe	...	Aime

Also Known As:

Swann in Love (UK) (USA)
Eine Liebe von Swann (West Germany)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

French | English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Château de Champs-sur-Marne, Champs-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, France

Company:

Gaumont

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gap-Toothed Women (1987)

Good adaptation but not flawless

I really admire the work of Volker Schlondorff, I think he is one of the best German director nowadays with Wenders (although in a very different style). His adaptation of Proust is quite good but several things really annoyed me.

_first, the soundtrack: why using an atonal composition of Henze when Proust, who loved Wagner, filled his novel with specific musical references? It simply does not fit the atmosphere! Any chamber music of the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries would have been better!

_second, the acting: I am french and I really think Alain Delon is way overrated, he's simply mediocre. However, I really like Jeremy Irons, and Ornella Muti is usually quite good, but their dubbing is absolutely awful and ruins totally their acting! So I understand that Irons would have had a very strong English accent if he had been asked to act in french but if Schlondorff decided to shoot the movie in Paris with 90 percent of the cast being french, why in the hell didn't he choose two other french actors for the leading roles? I have nothing against English actors, on the contrary, but then, he should have shot the movie in English rather than dubbing miserably these good artists.

_Third, the movie is sometimes a little slow. Usually, Schlondorff does a much better job with the editing. If you want to discover the terrific job of this great director, you should rather see "The Tin Drum", "The Ogre", "The Handmaid's Tale" or "Death of a Salesman" before this one.