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L'amant (1992)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
30 October 1992 (USA)
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Tagline:
She gave her innocence, her passion, her body. The one thing she couldn't give was her love.
Plot:
In 1929 French Indochina, a French teenage girl embarks on a reckless and forbidden romance with a wealthy, older Chinese man, each knowing that knowledge of their affair will bring drastic consequences to each other. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Another 2 wins
&
6 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Film review: The Sea Wall
(From The Guardian - Film News. 19 November 2009, 2:50 PM, PST)
October c'est magnifique with TV5MONDE film slate
(From Monsters and Critics. 30 September 2009, 9:41 PM, PDT)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 19 November 2009, 2:50 PM, PST)
October c'est magnifique with TV5MONDE film slate
(From Monsters and Critics. 30 September 2009, 9:41 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Poetic exploration of female sexuality
more (80 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jane March | ... | The Young Girl | |
| Tony Leung Ka Fai | ... | The Chinaman | |
| Frédérique Meininger | ... | The Mother | |
| Arnaud Giovaninetti | ... | The Elder Brother | |
| Melvil Poupaud | ... | The Younger Brother | |
| Lisa Faulkner | ... | Helene Lagonelle | |
| Xiem Mang | ... | The Chinaman's Father | |
| Philippe Le Dem | ... | The French Teacher | |
| Ann Schaufuss | ... | Anne-Marie Stretter | |
| Quach Van An | ... | The Driver | |
| Tania Torrens | ... | The Principal | |
| Raymonde Heudeline | ... | The Writer (end) | |
| Yvonne Wingerter | ... | The Writer (beginning) | |
| Do Minh Vien | ... | The Young Boy | |
| Hélène Patarot | ... | The Assistant Mistress |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
The Lover (UK)
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MPAA:
Rated R on appeal for graphic and explicit sexuality.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
115 min | USA:103 min (R-rated version) | USA:115 min (unrated version) | Germany:111 min (25 fps)
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) |
Iceland:16 |
Germany:12 |
Italy:T |
Netherlands:16 |
Argentina:16 |
Australia:R |
Canada:16+ (Quebec) |
Finland:K-16 |
France:U |
Hong Kong:III |
Portugal:M/18 |
Singapore:R(A) (original rating) |
Singapore:R21 (re-rating) |
South Korea:18 |
Spain:18 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:18 |
USA:NC-17 (original rating) |
USA:R (re-rating on appeal)
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Director Jean-Jacques Annaud carefully choreographed the sex scenes to appear believable.
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Quotes:
The Young Girl:
It's me. I am always a little sad. I'm like my mother.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Une américaine à Paris (2005) (TV)
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FAQ
Why Use a Half-Asian to Portray a White Girl?more
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This movie is one of the very few successful attempts at evoking female sexuality and sensuality in a non-obscene way. It's an exploration of the work of the senses, not so much a story with a plot. Therefore, it is unique in the history of cinema. Whereas other movies featuring a young girl and an older lover are mostly playful, ironic or simply intent on breaking a taboo, this movie brings an ode to the senses themselves in a much more subtle way.
Difficult as this may be, Annaud brings us as close as we can get to the atmosphere of love in a colonial and exotic setting. This delicate setting with its many contradictions (race, gender, age) adds to the experience. (A young girl who explores her own sexuality, couldn't dream of a more well-suiting context). In fact, the "colony" herself is a major character in the movie; the colony with her mighty Mekong River, her smells and colors, her strange sounds and her enigmatic people.
On a more metaphoric level, the Colony represents a temporary space, a place where Western people only pass through, a space that cannot be owned forever, a place of love and hate, just like the lovers' relationship. And in the end, the lovers have to go their own way, just like the colonialists have to leave the colony they love.
The movie is poetically slow, and at times becomes an almost ritual repetition of a single act. Precisely therein lies its 'dramatic content'. Add the beautiful cinematography and you have a nice exercise in film.