The Lover

MGM (Video & DVD) - MGM (Video & DVD)

Release date: 2001-12-11
DVD
Director:Jean-Jacques Annaud
Actors: Jane March, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Frédérique Meininger, Arnaud Giovaninetti, Melvil Poupaud

Adult Language, Adult Situations, Age Disparity Romance, Atmospheric, Biography, Bittersweet, Colonialism, Color, Coming-of-Age, Culture Clash, Deliberate, Drama, English, Erotic Drama, Feature, Feature Film-drama, First Love, France, High Production Values, Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance

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Guest

The Lover

Date undefined

Please note: I will be giving some of the plot away.

For anyone who views this film and thinks "underage sex" and/or "porn", there are some subtleties that need to be explored.

There is no reason to believe that the Chinaman sought out underage girls. If anything, his station in Chinese royalty probably provided him with female companionship until (and perhaps after) his arranged marriage.

Through no effort on his part the schoolgirl appeared in his orbit and he found himself unable to look away. This is a rare thing to experience and it is awfully hard to resist.

If we generally only see Leung and March having sex, we need to factor in that her jailbait status and the inter-racial nature of their relationship would not have allowed them to carry on a normal courtship. The sex was just about all that was left to them (and the director).

It was tragic not to see these two end up together, but there was a redeeming event at the end of this movie that made it worth my while.

In his old age Leung wrote to March that he would "love her until death". Society dictates that when two people part ways they must let each other go and move on. Rarely do we give or receive the assurance of on-going love in a situation like this. If both are in agreement that the relationship should not continue, this is a rare, beautiful, and appropriate gem to store away in one's heart.

Guest

The Lover

Date undefined

Excelent! You can feel and live the romance, the desire, the passion on the scenes. It's a mix of feelings, real life situations and the reality of many people about love, culture and what they want to do and what they have to do.