Jean-Jacques Annaud - L'amant (1992)

Indochina, in the late 1920s. A young French girl leaves her impoverished mother and brothers and returns to the boarding school where she will soon complete her studies. On the way, she encounters a rich and handsome Chinese man – their instant attraction is mutual, and very intense. She becomes his lover, but he cannot take her as his wife, for it is not permitted for him to marry outside of his caste. The girl’s mother sees an opportunity to extort money from the Chinese man for the benefit of her sons. Refusing to play the part of a prostitute, the girl goes her own way, but continues her passionate affair with her Chinese lover…

En la Indochina colonial de 1929, una adolescente francesa que vive con su madre y sus dos hermanas, conoce a un apuesto comerciante chino. A pesar de las tensiones que se viven en el sureste asiático y a la diferencia de edad y de clase entre ambos, pronto se convierten en amantes.




Before being a cinematographic success, L’Amant is a masterpiece of literature, an autobiographical novel written by Marguerite Duras in 1984, in which the author reveals her torrid adolescent relationship with an older and affluent Chinese man in the Saigon of the 1930s. Very few adaptations of novels to the screen have ever been rendered so faithfully. Annaud is known for the meticulousness with which he approaches the details of his films, including the historical ones, and The Lover is no exception.




The story is an interior monologue so laconically written that the film's characters aren't even named. Jane Marsh, la jeune fille ("the girl"), acting is effortless and natural, portraying perfectly the ferocious individuality of the adolescent girl. Her resemblance to young Duras is uncanny. Tony Leung Ka Fai, the "Chinaman," is convincing in the role of the vulnerable aristocratic.




The soundtrack, by Gabriel Yared, follows the action well, complementing the scenes, without overwhelming them. The theme, "l'Amant," is equally poetic and lyrical as the text. The dialogue is the manifestation of Duras's writing, and the voice-over sequences are taken verbatim from the novel. The genius of Annaud is again apparent in his choice of Jeanne Moreau for the narrator's part. Moreau's world-weary, destroyed voice could not have been better for conveying the tone of Duras's lyrical writing.

We owe the remarkable transcription of this literary masterpiece to the artistry and creativity of Jean-Jacques Annaud. In this production, he has successfully combined two art forms, the beauty of the written word with the fascination of the image. A worthwhile experience.




Ripped by Pipa @ veinticuatrofps.com

Jane March, en su debut oficial en la gran pantalla se transmuta en la gala con una gran sensualidad, un cuerpo aniñado que nos regala las pasiones prohibidas, sonrosado y sugerente. Annaud También nos regala a un Tony Leung elegante y refinado, pero a la vez calenturiento y sin tapujos, perfecta excusa para ésta rápida compenetración y fascinación por su persona, que cumple con la tarea de llenar a su partenaire de caricias, pasión y echándole una mano en sus duelos interpretativos.
Los secundarios, entre los que destaca Arnaud Giovaninetti cumplen con su propósito cuando la escena lo necesita, y dan el do de pecho en la escena del baile con toda la familia de ella.

La supina belleza de las imagenes durante todo el metraje hasta en el juego más sucio y sudoroso del amor carnal, prácticamente postales de una u otra índole, son avaladas por el gran Robert Fraisse.

Script/Guión: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Gérard Brach, Marguerite Duras (novel)
Music/Sonido: Gabriel Yared, Frédéric Chopin
Cinematography/Fotografía: Robert Fraisse
Cast/Reparto: Jane March, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Frédérique Meininger, Arnaud Giovaninetti, Melvil Poupaud, Lisa Faulkner, Xiem Mang, Philippe Le Dem, Ann Schaufuss, Jeanne Moreau (Narrator)