Max mon amour (1986)

Director:

Nagisa Ôshima

Writers:

Nagisa Ôshima (scenario) and
Jean-Claude Carrière (scenario) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 October 1986 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A Love Triangle of Primate Proportion.

Plot:

Reserved and cool, Margaret is the French wife of Peter, a British diplomat posted to France with their son Nelson...

Plot Keywords:

Chimpanzee | Ape | France | Diplomat | Speciesism

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Charlotte Rampling	...	Margaret Jones
Anthony Higgins	...	Peter Jones
Victoria Abril	...	Maria
Anne-Marie Joubert	...	Suzanne (as Anne-Marie Besse)
Nicole Calfan	...	Hélène
Pierre Étaix	...	Le détective / Detective
Bernard Haller	...	Robert
Sabine Haudepin	...	Françoise, la prostituée
Christopher Hovik	...	Nelson Jones
Fabrice Luchini	...	Nicolas
Diana Quick	...	Camille
Milena Vukotic	...	Margaret's Mother
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu	...	Archibald (as Bernard Pierre Donnadieu)
Thomas Austerweil
Bonnafet Tarbouriech	...	Le vétérinaire (as Pierre Bonnafet)
Philippe Brigaud
Roselyne Brunet
Pierre Cheremetieff		(as Pierre Cherementieff)
David Gabison	...	Le brigadier
Ève Greter
Pierre Guillermo
Nicholas Hawtrey		(as Nicolas Hawtrey)
Claude Jaeger	...	Roger Lemaître, le zoologue / Zoologist
Anne Kreis
Laurent Spielvogel	...	Dr. Mischler
Robin Steiger
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ailsa Berk	...	Max (uncredited)

Directed by
Nagisa Ôshima		(as Naghisa Oshima)

Writing credits
Nagisa Ôshima		(scenario) (as Nagisa Oshima) and
Jean-Claude Carrière		(scenario)
Jean-Claude Carrière		(based on an idea by)

Produced by
Serge Silberman	....	producer

Original Music by
Michel Portal

Cinematography by
Raoul Coutard

Film Editing by
Hélène Plemiannikov

Production Design by
Pierre Guffroy

Costume Design by
Bernard Perris		(costume designer: women)

Makeup Department
Stuart Artingstall	....	makeup special effects collaborator
Janice Barnes	....	makeup special effects collaborator
Ailsa Berk	....	makeup special effects collaborator
Jacques Clemente	....	chief makeup artist (as Jacques Clément)
Jamie Courtier	....	makeup special effects collaborator
Elisabeth Daynes	....	special makeup
Marie-Hélène Duguet	....	assistant makeup artist
Diana Moseley	....	makeup special effects collaborator (as Diana Mosley)
William Plant	....	makeup special effects collaborator
Jean-Marie Roueche	....	hair stylist
John Stephenson	....	makeup special effects collaborator (as John Stevenson)

Production Management
Therese Kaufmann	....	second assistant unit manager (as Thérèse Kaufmann)
Loic Nedelec	....	assistant unit manager (as Loïc Nédélec)
Claude-Anne Paureilhe	....	unit manager
Ulrich Picard	....	production manager (as Ully Pickardt)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bernard Cohn	....	first assistant director
Laurence De Moustier	....	second assistant director
Yann Gilbert	....	second assistant director
Marion Lary	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Alain Guffroy	....	second assistant decorator
Pierre Lefait	....	set dresser
Marc Pinquier	....	assistant set dresser
Jacques Preisach	....	property master
Albert Rajau	....	first assistant decorator

Sound Department
Daniel Couteau	....	sound effects
Jean-Philippe Le Roux	....	sound engineer
Lionel Pauty	....	sound assistant
Claude Villand	....	sound mixer
Adeline Yoyotte	....	sound editor (as Adeline Yoyotte-Husson)

Special Effects by
Ray Scott	....	makeup special effects
Clive R. Kay	....	special effects contact lenses (uncredited)

Stunts
Claude Carliez	....	stunt consultant

Camera and Electrical Department
Bruno Affret	....	assistant camera
Arnaud Borrel	....	still photographer (as Arnaud Borel)
André Clément	....	camera operator
Jean-Pierre Fizet	....	still photographer
Jean Garcenot	....	assistant camera
Jean Henneu	....	key grip (as Jean Henneau)
Michel Vocoret	....	chief electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brigitte Demouzon	....	assistant costumer
Thérèse Fournier	....	wardrober (as Thérése Fournier)
Sylvia Panigel	....	chief costumer

Editorial Department
Florence Poulain	....	assistant editor
Catherine Sevetier	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Francis Darizcuren	....	musician: bass guitar
Carole Fredericks	....	musician: Voix
Michel Portal	....	musician: clarinet
Georges Rodi	....	music recordist: A. D. S. R. (as G. Rodi)
Jean Schwarz	....	music recordist: Celia Records (as J. Schwarz)

Other crew
Noëlle Audejan	....	production secretary
Rick Baker	....	chimp's sequence advisor
Jacques Baschung	....	production administrator
Maurice Binder	....	title designer
Monique Herran	....	script supervisor
Jacqueline Oblin	....	production administrator
Bertrand Raison	....	press attache
Paul Witz	....	transflex

Production Companies

• Serge Silberman (presents)
• Greenwich Film Productions (for) (as Greenwich Film Production S.A./Paris)
• Greenwich Films (for) (as Greenwich Filmn U.S.A., Inc.)
• Films A2 (for)

Distributors

• Acteurs Auteurs Associés (AAA) (1986) (France) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Contemporary Films (1990) (UK) (theatrical)
• Toho-Towa (1987) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Cinema Club (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Connoisseur Video (199?) (UK) (VHS)
• Kinokuniya (2009) (Japan) (DVD) (box-set)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Vid Canada (1999) (Canada) (VHS)

Other Companies

• La Courte Échelle  casting: children
• Tri-Track Sync  re-recording facilities
• Plastic Studio  prosthesis
• Celia Records  music recording studio
• A.D.S.R.  music recording studio
• Centralcolor  photo lab
• Christian Dior  thanks: VISIORA Maquillage Professionnel de (Paris)
• Guy Laroche  thanks: Vêtements des Acteurs (as Monsieur GUY LAROCHE)
• Jacques Dessange  thanks (as Jacques Dessange International)
• Restaurant Chiberta  thanks

Also Known As:

"Max My Love" - International (English title) (second part title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some aberrant sexual content

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | Italy:VM14 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Paris Studios Cinéma, Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company:

Serge Silberman

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Scrivere Max mon amour (2007) (V)

Best in a theater, still fine on DVD

Seen with an audience in a theater, Max Mon Amour can be a surprising and satisfying parable. When a womanizing diplomat (Anthony Higgins) realizes that his wife (Charlotte Rampling) may be having an affair, he's shocked, then disgusted that this lover is in fact a full-grown chimpanzee. At first, it appears that Rampling may be using the simian to exact emotional revenge on his wife; then, it seems that a special kind of love might be in play - which inflames his jealousy to the point of violence.

Nagisa Oshima frames the film as an offbeat comedy, but it's hard to ignore ignore its themes, which include the blindness of love, questioning to what degree we're human or animal. To the very last scenes, it's difficult to predict that will happen to the chimp or the strange romance. It's presented almost entirely without music, and filmed in French and English - as if to say the language spoken here is beyond words, speaking the language of the heart.

Of particular note is the rendering of the chimp, which is presented so realistically that you almost believe it's real. Charlotte Rampling is enigmatic and sensual as Max's "lover."