L'amant (1992)

Réalisateur:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Scénaristes:

Jean-Jacques Annaud (writer)
Gérard Brach (writer)
(suite)

Date de sortie:

30 octobre 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Biographie | Drame | Romance

Accroche:

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

Intrigue:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Chinese | Indochina | Vietnam | Sexual Desire | Limousine

Récompenses:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

Poetic exploration of female sexuality

Ensemble

Jane March	...	The Young Girl
Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	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
Jeanne Moreau	...	Narrator (French and English version) / Récitante (voice)
Frédéric Auburtin	...	Liner Pianist
Alido H. Gaudencio	...	Anne-Marie Stretters Driver
Vu Dinh Thi	...	Ferry Captain
Truong Thu	...	Bus Driver
Nguyen Thi Cam Thuy	...	Bride
Lu Van Trang	...	Bus Controller
Vu Kim Trong	...	Young Girls Coolie

Réalisé par
Jean-Jacques Annaud

Scénaristes (dans l'ordre alphabétique)
Jean-Jacques Annaud		writer
Gérard Brach		writer
Marguerite Duras		novel

Produit par
Claude Berri	....	producer
Timothy Burrill	....	co-producer
Jacques Tronel	....	co-producer

Musique originale
Gabriel Yared

Image
Robert Fraisse

Montage
Noëlle Boisson

Distribution des rôles
Francine Cathelain
Olivier Mergault
Joanna Merlin
Patricia Pao

Création des décors
Hoang Thanh At

Direction artistique
Olivier Radot

Création des costumes
Yvonne Sassinot de Nesle

Directeur de production
Jean-Yves Asselin	....	unit production manager
Mederic Bourlat	....	assistant unit manager
Alfred Lott	....	production manager
Christine Raspillère	....	production manager

Assistant réalisateur
Frédéric Auburtin	....	first assistant director
Isabelle Henri	....	assistant director

Département Art
Mat Troi Day	....	property buyer
Sophie Martel	....	set dresser
Christian Portal	....	property master
Maxime Rebière	....	storyboard artist

Technicien du son
Anke Bakker	....	assistant sound editor
Laurent Quaglio	....	sound
Laurent Quaglio	....	supervising sound editor
Christian Wangler	....	sound mixer

Effets spéciaux
Georges Demétrau	....	special effects

Visual Effects
Alan Church	....	optical camera operator
Frederic Moreau	....	optical effects
Andy Stevens	....	optical camera assistant: Magic Camera Co

Caméra et Département Electrique
Benoît Barbier	....	still photographer
David Campbell	....	crane operator: Technocrane
Stephane Canda	....	grip
Alain Herpe	....	assistant camera

Département Costume et garde-Robe
Jean-Daniel Vuillermoz	....	costumer assistant

Dpartement Editorial
Diane Logan	....	assistant editor
Yvan Lucas	....	color timer

Divers
Danielle Dumanoir	....	production coordinator
Eleanor Fazan	....	choreographer
Segolene Fleury-Slimane	....	production accountant
Nicole Heitzmann	....	production accountant
Jennifer Patrick	....	voice coach
Nam Son	....	historical advisor
Guy Wagner	....	maritime advisor

Companies de production

• Films A2
• Grai Phang Film Studio
• Renn Productions
• Timothy Burrill Productions

Distributeurs

• Guild (1992) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1992) (USA) (theatrical)
• Emerald (2007) (Argentina) (DVD) (re-release)
• Fox Pathé Europa (2001) (France) (DVD)
• Transmundo Films (Argentina)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (Argentina) (video)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. (Spain)

Autres Companies

• Éditions de Minuit  book publisher

Autre(s) titre(s):

The Lover (UK)

MPAA:

Rated R on appeal for graphic and explicit sexuality.

Durée:

115 min | USA:103 min (R-rated version) | USA:115 min (unrated version) | Germany:111 min (25 fps)

Pays:

France | UK | Vietnam

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur (Eastmancolor)

Rapport de forme:

1,85 : 1

Son:

Dolby | LC-Concept Digital Sound

Classification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Hong Kong:III | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating on appeal)

Lieux de tournage:

Ho Chi Min (Saigon), Vietnam

Société:

Films A2

Anecdotes:

Jean-Jacques Annaud's paycheck was £1.1 million.

Guillemet:

The Elder Brother: Do you want to fight? Take care little buddy. It'd take two of you to do the job.
The Chinaman: Oh no. A lot more than that. Four of me. You have no idea how weak I am...

Connexions De Film:

figure dans "Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater: Aardvark Jubilee" (1995)

Poetic exploration of female sexuality

This movie is one of the very few successful attempts at evoking female sexuality and sensuality in a non-obscene way. It's an exploration of the work of the senses, not so much a story with a plot. Therefore, it is unique in the history of cinema. Whereas other movies featuring a young girl and an older lover are mostly playful, ironic or simply intent on breaking a taboo, this movie brings an ode to the senses themselves in a much more subtle way.

Difficult as this may be, Annaud brings us as close as we can get to the atmosphere of love in a colonial and exotic setting. This delicate setting with its many contradictions (race, gender, age) adds to the experience. (A young girl who explores her own sexuality, couldn't dream of a more well-suiting context). In fact, the "colony" herself is a major character in the movie; the colony with her mighty Mekong River, her smells and colors, her strange sounds and her enigmatic people.

On a more metaphoric level, the Colony represents a temporary space, a place where Western people only pass through, a space that cannot be owned forever, a place of love and hate, just like the lovers' relationship. And in the end, the lovers have to go their own way, just like the colonialists have to leave the colony they love.

The movie is poetically slow, and at times becomes an almost ritual repetition of a single act. Precisely therein lies its 'dramatic content'. Add the beautiful cinematography and you have a nice exercise in film.