The Lover (1992)

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.

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

Marguerite Duras (based on the novel), Gérard Brach (adaptation)

Stars:

Jane March, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Frédérique Meininger

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jane March	...	The Young Girl
Tony Ka Fai Leung	...	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

Storyline

It is French Colonial Vietnam in 1929. A young French girl from a family that is having some monetary difficulties is returning to boarding school. She is alone on public transportation when she catches the eye of a wealthy Chinese businessman. He offers her a ride into town in the back of his chauffeured sedan, and sparks fly. Can the torrid affair that ensues between them overcome the class restrictions and social mores of that time? Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras.

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Plot Keywords:

white panties | adult actress playing minor girl | loss of virginity | first sexual experience | breasts | 

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Taglines:

She gave her innocence, her passion, her body. The one thing she couldn't give was her love.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R on appeal for graphic and explicit sexuality

Details

Country:

France UK Vietnam

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lover

Filming Locations:

Vietnam

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$181,147, 30 October 1992, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,899,194

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films A2, Grai Phang Film Studio, Renn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 103 min (R-rated) 116 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby LC-Concept Digital Sound

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Duras' real Chinese lover was called Lee.

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Goofs

Her lover smokes filtered cigarettes in 1929. They were not invented until the mid-'30s and not in common use until the 1950s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Very early in my life, it was too late. At eighteen it was already too late. At eighteen I aged. This aging was brutal. This aging, I saw it spread over my features, one by one. Instead of being frightened by it, I saw this aging of my face with the same sort of interest I might have taken for example in the reading of a book. That new face I kept it. It's kept the same contours, but its matter is destroyed. I have a destroyed face. Let me tell you again: I'm fifteen and a half. ...

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Alternate Versions

Available on video in two versions: the 103 min. R-rated cut and a much more explicit 115 min. unrated cut.

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Connections

Featured in The Rainmaker (1997)

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Soundtracks

Waltz in B minor Opus 69 No. 2
Written by Frédéric Chopin (as Chopin)
Performed by Howard Shelley

User Reviews

One Image

I continue to be amazed at what works in this huge experiment in the social imagination we call film.

One thing that really impresses me is how one image will stick in your mind. One image around which it seems the whole rest of the project revolves and supports. I usually write IMDb comments very soon after seeing or reseeing a film.

In this case, I was so struck by that one image I resolved to wait three months before commenting. It stuck.

That image is the one which is used in the promotion and presumably is what the filmmaker considers its essence: the 15 year old girl in defiantly non-school clothes with an incongruous man's hat on the ferry. She is observing and consciously observed. It is we who observe her and enjoy her sensuality then and later just as the Chinese observer does. He is our surrogate, defining the strange situation of a being in the wrong place: Chinese being then more of a 'minority' in Vietnam than Europeans.

Exotic ordinariness. Emerging awarenesses as justification for being. No, more: revelling in existence. Transition as destination.

It is odd how charged this one image is, and how competently it justifies the whole project. Just as the lover is left puzzling why, so are we. So are we, and the fact that no easy answer appears is why this sticks so.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.