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DramaRomance

The Lover

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

A poor French teenage girl engages in an illicit affair with a wealthy Chinese heir in 1920s Saigon. For the first time in her young life she has control, and she wields it deftly over her besotted lover throughout a series of clandestine meetings and torrid encounters.

Release Date : 1992-01-22

Language :MandarinEnglish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Timothy Burrill ProductionsRenn ProductionsGrai Phang Film StudioFilms A2

Production Country : FranceUnited KingdomVietnam

Alternative Titles : The Lover L'amantThe Lover

Cast

Jane March

Character Name : The Young Girl

Original Name : Jane March

Gender : Female

Tony Leung Ka-Fai

Character Name : The Chinaman

Original Name : 梁家輝

Gender : Male

Frédérique Meininger

Character Name : The Mother

Original Name : Frédérique Meininger

Gender : Female

Arnaud Giovaninetti

Character Name : The Elder Brother

Original Name : Arnaud Giovaninetti

Gender : Male

Melvil Poupaud

Character Name : The Younger Brother

Original Name : Melvil Poupaud

Gender : Male

Lisa Faulkner

Character Name : Helene Lagonelle

Original Name : Lisa Faulkner

Gender : Female

Jeanne Moreau

Character Name : Narrator

Original Name : Jeanne Moreau

Gender : Female

Xiem Mang

Character Name : The Chinaman's Father

Original Name : Xiem Mang

Gender : Male

Philippe Le Dem

Character Name : The French Teacher

Original Name : Philippe Le Dem

Gender : Male

Ann Schaufuss

Character Name : Anne-Marie Stretter

Original Name : Ann Schaufuss

Gender : Female

Tania Torrens

Character Name : The Principal

Original Name : Tania Torrens

Gender : Female

Espérance Pham Thai Lan

Character Name : Femme

Original Name : Espérance Pham Thai Lan

Gender : Female

Hélène Patarot

Character Name : The Assistant Mistress

Original Name : Hélène Patarot

Gender : Female

Yvonne Wingerter

Character Name : The Writer (beginning)

Original Name : Yvonne Wingerter

Gender : Female

Raymonde Heudeline

Character Name : The Writer (end)

Original Name : Raymonde Heudeline

Gender : Male

Quach Van An

Character Name : The Driver

Original Name : Quach Van An

Gender : Male

Do Minh Vien

Character Name : The Young Boy

Original Name : Do Minh Vien

Gender : Male

Frédéric Auburtin

Character Name : Liner Pianist

Original Name : Frédéric Auburtin

Gender : Male

Alido H. Gaudencio

Character Name : Anne-Marie Stretters Driver

Original Name : Alido H. Gaudencio

Gender : Male

Vu Dinh Thi

Character Name : Ferry Captain

Original Name : Vu Dinh Thi

Gender : Male

Truong Thu

Character Name : Bus Driver

Original Name : Truong Thu

Gender : Male

Thi Cam Thuy Nguyen

Character Name : Bride

Original Name : Thi Cam Thuy Nguyen

Gender : Female

Lu Van Trang

Character Name : Bus Controller

Original Name : Lu Van Trang

Gender : Male

Vu Kim Trong

Character Name : Young Girls Coolie

Original Name : Vu Kim Trong

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-01-05

A wealthy man (Tony Leung) is travelling on a ferry when he encounters a pretty young woman (Jane March). It doesn't take long before they are having a fairly torrid affair, but things are difficult. He is older and a Chinese citizen, she a French girl in what was then French Indo-China. She is also a bit of a gold-digger and quite aware that if she plays her cards right, he can offer her a new, more prosperous, life than that she shares with her mother (Fréderique Meininger) and two brothers. The older brother (Arnaud Giovaninetti) is a bit puritanical when it comes to his sister, her younger (Melvil Poupaud) is more shy and usually content to keep his head down and play his piano. Despite the initially venal nature of her relationship, there gradually develops a bond that is both loving and turbulent as the political situation overtakes their love, with the French leaving Vietnam to local government. This is a well scored and stunning looking film but the story is remarkably thin and repetitive and once we've seen them have sex a few times, I began to wonder if Jean-Jacques Annaud was just a bit bereft of ideas as to how to develop either character beyond the physical or material. It's a slow burn and I'm afraid that I just didn't really engage with either as the story trundled along, narrated occasionally and rather melodramatically by Jeanne Moreau, to a conclusion that was quite a long time coming and not really worth the wait. It's watchable, and illustrates well the gap between rich and poor here in the 1920s, but is very much an example of style over substance.