Lovers (1999)

A French woman falls in love with a Yugoslavian man, not realizing that he is an illegal immigrant.

Director:

Jean-Marc Barr

Writers:

Pascal Arnold, Jean-Marc Barr

Stars:

Élodie Bouchez, Sergej Trifunovic, Mathias Benguigui

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Élodie Bouchez	...	Jeanne
Sergej Trifunovic	...	Dragan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mathias Benguigui	...	Le Polizier
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Le Kiosquier
Patrick Catalifo
Thibault de Montalembert	...	Jean-Michel
Irina Decermic	...	Maria
Graziella Delerm	...	La Flic
Philippe Duquesne	...	Le client
Mirza Halilovic	...	L'ami agent
Dragan Nikolic	...	Zlatan (as Dragan Nicolic)
Geneviève Page	...	Alice

Storyline

Jeanne and Dragan meet in a Paris bookshop - she's working there, he's looking for a book on the Italian painter Rossetti. The two strike up a passionate affair, but Dragan doesn't tell her that he is in the country illegally.

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Plot Keywords:

painter | illegal immigrant | love | yugoslavian | bookshop | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

English French Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

8 December 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

Amantes

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 4,700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bar Nothing, TF1 International, Tolodo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1 / (high definition)

User Reviews

Dogme love story

This is a dogme film using location shots, no props, natural lighting as far as possible etc. The story concerns a Yugoslav Serb artist, Dragan adrift in France. He goes into a bookshop to try and buy an art book and meets a girl, Jeanne, who works there somewhat intermittently, and they fall in love. Although they have to speak in English because she can't speak Serbian and he can't speak French remarkably they never have to struggle for words (I do tell a lie he does have a problem - once.) One night they are stopped by the police after some drunken bad behaviour on Dragan's part and Jeanne discovers to her horror that his papers are not in order and he will be allowed three days before being deported by the authorities. His friends had warned him to regularise his stay with the authorities but he had ignored them and now they are both up the proverbial creek. Elodie Bouchet as Jeanne puts in a good performance and the cinematography creates a nice atmosphere from its shots of Paris streets and claustrophobic apartments but the pacing of the film is glacial. There is little or no dramatic tension until Dragan gets his marching orders from the cops, there is no witty dialogue and no real political point to make as in L'Afrance another French film which deals with more or less the same subject but in a rather sharper way.