Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302747416
Format: Color
ISBN: 6302747414
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Running Time: 103
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1992-10-30

Lovely to look at, this story reveals little more than the characters' nude bodies. Like couples whose only attraction is physical, this has little to offer once it leaves the bedroom. We never learn the interests or inner workings of the lovers in question. They become nothing more than attractive bodies, which makes this little more than a shallow exercise in sexuality. The story is based on the controversial, and supposedly autobiographical, bestseller by experimental French novelist Marguerite Duras. It tells the story of a young French schoolgirl who becomes sexually involved with a sophisticated, older Asian man. Set in Indochina in the late 1920s, this is stunningly photographed and artfully directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. That said, the lack of a more satisfying plot means this is merely tastefully produced soft porn. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Rating:
Summary: Love Until Death
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Lover
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Avoid This Boring Movie - Like Watching Paint Dry
Comment: This movie is slow, boring, has no real plot, wooden acting. Watching this movie is like watching paint dry.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful and Sensual Experience in Forbidden Love.
Comment: Set in 1929 colonial Vietnam, and based on the memoir by French novelist Marguerite Duras (The Lover), which chronicles a romance between Duras and her Chinese lover, Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1992 film examines the clandestine relationship between a 15-year-old daughter (Jane March) of a bankrupt French family and her 27-year-old wealthy lover (Tony Leung Ka-Fai). She becomes his lover until an arranged marriage forces him to a choose between family tradition and his love for the girl. Much like the far superior Hiroshima Mon Amour (based on a Duras novel as well) , The Lover is a beautiful and sensual experience in forbidden love. While it lacks the poetic imagination of Resnais's 1959 masterpiece, it nevertheless aspires to be viewed as a serious work, and it occasionally succeeds.

G. Merritt

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Soft yet erotic, this tale won't disappoint
Comment: This movie is great for those slowed down nights when you want to sit back with a lover and enjoy a sensuous movie. It is titilating without getting awkward and pleasant to watch again and again.

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