The Lover (L'amant) (1992)

20% of critics liked it
(15 reviews)
79% of users liked it
(7,987 ratings)

The Lover is director Jean-Jacques Annaud's adaptation of Marguerite Duras' minimalist 1984 novel. Set in French Indochina in 1929, the film explores the erotic charge of forbidden love. Jane March plays a French teenager sent to a Saigon boarding school, while Tony Leung is a 32-year Chinese… More The Lover is director Jean-Jacques Annaud's adaptation of Marguerite Duras' minimalist 1984 novel. Set in French Indochina in 1929, the film explores the erotic charge of forbidden love. Jane March plays a French teenager sent to a Saigon boarding school, while Tony Leung is a 32-year Chinese aristocrat. They look at each and they both see a blinding white flash; it's kismet. He offers her a ride in his limousine and soon they meet in his "bachelor room" where they revel in a wide variety of creative sexual encounters. However, they both realize their love is doomed. She comes from a troubled family that includes a mentally-disturbed mother (Frederique Meininger) and drug-addicted brother (Arnaud Giovaninetti). It also appears that her family would not approve of an interracial tryst. But then neither would his family, since in order to inherit his father's wealth, he must not break from a traditional Chinese arranged marriage. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 56 min.
Directed By: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International

In Theaters: Oct 30, 1992 Wide
On DVD: Dec 11, 2001
Studio: MGM

Critic Reviews

Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Scratch away the steamy, evocative surface, remove Jeanne Moreau's veteran-voiced narration, and you have only art-film banalities.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Annaud and his collaborators have got all of the physical details just right, but there is a failure of the imagination here; we do not sense the presence of real people behind the attractive facades of the two main actors.
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Never mind that in portraying passion, the two seem to be demonstrating the proper use of the Salad Shooter.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Too bad that the film is marred by the vices of international productions, as it deals with issues seldom shown in American movies, such as the power of sexuality.
Boo Allen, Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
Stylish if somewhat tedious study of a young Vietnamese woman who falls under the spell of an older dandy.
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
The worst part of the dialog is given to the writer. She has to say one pedantic line after another, and overall, the narrator's part is just too wordy.
, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
The only moderately interesting scene here is a traditional Chinese wedding toward the end, which, of course, is cut short.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

On the whole, L'amant strikes me as aloof and disconnected. It has aspirations of being elevated and artsy but offers no reason for empathy or audience connection with the characters. In the end I didn't really care whether or not the two lovers stayed… More
On the whole, L'amant strikes me as aloof and disconnected. It has aspirations of being elevated and artsy but offers no reason for empathy or audience connection with the characters. In the end I didn't really care whether or not the two lovers stayed together or parted ways. A beautiful but rather hollow film.
Candy R

This movie is set in 1920s Saigon. On a chance encounter on a ferry crossing a rich Chinese man in his 30s meets a French school girl. They start an affair. He loves her but she seems to stay with him for his money as her family are poor. He wants to marry her but is forbidden because… More
This movie is set in 1920s Saigon. On a chance encounter on a ferry crossing a rich Chinese man in his 30s meets a French school girl. They start an affair. He loves her but she seems to stay with him for his money as her family are poor. He wants to marry her but is forbidden because of their race and his father has planned an arranged marriage for him. She leaves for France but he never forgets her. Movie content is a little uneasy at times. Also sexually explicit.
Elvira B

Another great Annaud oeuvre. I love the book and this film was very faithful to Marguerite Duras's wonderful, evocative narration. I was very skeptical because so much of Duras's sad, beautiful work is often too abstract, contradictory, ambiguous, and yet Annaud did manage… More
Another great Annaud oeuvre. I love the book and this film was very faithful to Marguerite Duras's wonderful, evocative narration. I was very skeptical because so much of Duras's sad, beautiful work is often too abstract, contradictory, ambiguous, and yet Annaud did manage to make episodes linear, comprehensible, but not trivial. There's still so much properly left unsaid about the relationship of a 15 year old French girl and a 32 year old Chinese man. It was quite a relief, actually, to have so much vague, fascinating content put in images, and feelings incarnated in real people. Jeanne Moreau's voice was exactly the type of voice I wanted to hear in an adaptation of L'Amant. Contained, breathy, grave. Tony Leung Ka Fai was also, quite honestly, an accurate choice to play the lovesick man. His performance is one of the most captivating things about the movie, apart from the cinematography and the richness of the story itself. It was a very pleasant surprise, I didn't think I would like it. It's beautiful.
Red L

A portrayal of a relationship between a pubescent girl (Jane March is 18 but looks much younger) and an older Chinese guy. Besides the intense sex scenes, one of the images that stays with me is their make out apartment. It is in the middle of the city with all the noises of life… More
A portrayal of a relationship between a pubescent girl (Jane March is 18 but looks much younger) and an older Chinese guy. Besides the intense sex scenes, one of the images that stays with me is their make out apartment. It is in the middle of the city with all the noises of life going by just outside the shutters. You feel for them both.
Dean M

Average erotic-drama tale of a schoolgirl's affair with a wealthy young Chinaman in 1920's Vietname has obviously been translated word-for-word from a cheap phrase book. Psst!: An unknown French actress later claimed that she had doubled for Jane March in… More
Average erotic-drama tale of a schoolgirl's affair with a wealthy young Chinaman in 1920's Vietname has obviously been translated word-for-word from a cheap phrase book. Psst!: An unknown French actress later claimed that she had doubled for Jane March in the sex scenes - that's the truth.
Dimitris S

Maybe I'm overtly drawn by its sensuality.I confess,it really is so natural and free-spirited like many condemned that movie's emotion.I just can't stop praising it though for the gradual magnetism despite the fact March isn't the ideal "lover".
Daisy M

The sex scenes are indeed graphic, but by no means done in bad taste or just for the sake of sex. The film is much more than about lust, it is about two lovers who found refuge in each others arms. Jane March and Tony Leung gave great performances, showing the conflict of emotions… More
The sex scenes are indeed graphic, but by no means done in bad taste or just for the sake of sex. The film is much more than about lust, it is about two lovers who found refuge in each others arms. Jane March and Tony Leung gave great performances, showing the conflict of emotions that they had to endure. Beautifully paced storyline with great atmosphere and soundtrack. It will make this a worthwhile movie experience. Very highly recommended.
Donna D

Damn, this movie was sensationally erotic! A true gem in this amazing well written masterpiece. You just have to see it for yourself!
Leo L

The best movie ever!!
Miriam K

As far as the Romance genre is concerned...I have never seen a better one in modern film making. The chemistry between these 2 was bonechilling. I couldn't believe it. I was enthralled from the beginning and cried at the end.

Read all 10 featured audience ratings

Cast

Jane March
as The Young Girl
Tony Leung Ka Fai
as Chinese Man
Frédérique Meininger
as Mother

Arnaud Giovaninetti
as Elder Brother
Melvil Poupaud
as Younger Brother
Lisa Faulkner
as Helene Lagonelle

See full cast