"The Lover" is, without a doubt, a stunning film to look at. Every frame is like a beautiful lost photograph and the setting is lively and exotic, particularly for a Western audience.One of the film's main strong points is its weather. For the majority of the film, the sun is shining and everyone is sweating attractively. It gives the whole film a feeling of ripeness which is probably symbolic of our young female lead's blossoming sexuality. It's only towards the end of the film, when the romance is starting to falter, that the weather breaks into rain which is both sad but also slightly releasing.Jane March's acting is not stellar by any stretch of the imagination but it doesn't really need to be. She fits perfectly into the style of "nymphet" beauty but her character is almost... boring. She seems disinterested in everything around her, even during love scenes or the scenes when she fights with her family. The character also borders on cliché with her casual, teenage cruelty and thin, white dresses that beat you over the head with their ham-fisted symbolism.Tony Ka Fai Leung's character is a lot more interesting. It would have been easy to make him very suave and predatory when he makes a pass at March's character but instead, they opt for making him nervous and intimidated by her. Leung's performance is wonderfully nuanced. There is one scene in particular, where he's consumed by rage due to the girl's treatment of him and forcefully has sex with her. He keeps himself more or less composed but you can see the anger and hurt bubbling underneath that calm demeanour.The love scenes are, at times, gratuitous but they are mostly gorgeous to watch and very cleverly done. There's beautiful scene of the girl being washed by her lover afterwards which is lovely and tender.The film's meandering plot will bore some viewers but I liked it because it mirrored the lovers meandering love affair that was doomed from the start. However, the ending of "The Lover" was unsatisfying for me. It just felt unfinished and vague, like they didn't know how to end the story effectively.Overall, The Lover is a visually exquisite film which is interesting enough to not be written off as simple pornography but it's not quite strong enough to be considered an art film, in my opinion. However, it's definitely worth a watch and will probably play on your mind for a while after your viewing.

I have to start by saying this is my favorite movie of all times. I consider it both technically and as a storyline to be perfectly done. I have seen it dozens of times, it almost breaks my heart each time, the incredible acting, the story and the music are simply impeccable. Watching it several times made me understand the drama better, how She hides her love behind society's appearances, with her heart torn apart during a brilliant piece of music by Chopin. I don't think I have seen such expressive faces of actors before, each character so fantastically defined, you can practically read his/her thoughts on their faces. Lovely movie, a masterpiece in cinema indeed!

I just watched this movie for the first time last week and have not been able to get it off my mind. I have watched it several times since then and have bought both the books written on this subject and also the DVD and soundtrack. I think everything about it was beautiful, from the music, the scenery, and the acting. I think the most sensual parts of the movie are when the Chinaman first sees the young girl on the ferry and is watching her from the automobile and then leaves the car and approaches her. He is supposed to be a worldly man and experienced with women but yet trembles as he offers her a cigarette. Another sensual scene is in the car driving to Saigon and he moves his hand close to hers and begins touching her fingers and then she clasps his with her thumb and then they are clutching hands. Also he watches her all through this movie, on the ferry, while they are driving, while they walk together, in the restaurant and then while she is dancing with her brother, you can see the jealousy. He is a gentleman and a gentle man. He offers her his coat when she is chilly and really does love her. I think those scenes are more sexual than the sex scenes. I think her leaning on the ferry in the beginning of the film with her hat on and her dress blowing in the breeze and her leg on the railing shows how sexy this young girl can be. There is something about that scene and the same stance at the end of the movie that is sexy and the Chinaman saw that. I do think she loved him and knew that nothing could come of it so she was not going to say she loved him or cared for him. I think she was acting tough because she didn't want him to think she cared for him. I almost think she was the seducer. That she was ready for an adult encounter and he was the one that showed up. Why wouldn't anyone want him. That shot of him as he departs from the car and then turns around was something else. He is so handsome. I wanted to know where I could go to get one of him. Yes she is ready for a sexual adventure and she goes for it. I felt very sad that the two of them could not spend the rest of their lives together. When he tells her at her mothers old plantation that he spoke to the father and tried to tell him that a love like theirs only comes once in your life was so touching and then says the father would rather see his son dead than with a white women and she remarks back that she will be leaving anyway and that she doesn't love him. I thought she was mean to say that but then she was mean in a few scenes. I thought he had more class than she did and manners as well. I cried at the end, I guess because the love had no place to go once she left. He was left with nothing and she was moving on to whatever. Then she realized that she did love him. After reading so many articles on the book and the author it seems that the Chinaman was the great love of her life. That the relationships she had did not work out all that well and he of course left her know that he had always loved her. This relationship that they had lasted for a year and a half according to the book. In that much time you can become very attached to someone. If there really wasn't anything there on her part as far as love or caring I don't think she would have stayed with him that long. She was young she would have moved on. This is definitely the all time favorite movie for me. I am haunted by it and cannot stop thinking about it. Jane March did a great job as an unexperienced in the love department young girl. Tony Leung Ka Fai, uhmmmm let me say this, wow what a handsome guy who makes the screen sizzle when he is on it. Those shots of him in the beginning and at the dance and his wedding all I can say he is something. His dress is impeccable in this movie. He really looks like a rich aristocrat and behaves as one as well. Loved the movie and will never forget it.

I saw the film at an art house in the early 90s and loved it. I later saw the unrated cut on laser-disc and the added footage did flesh out (no pun intended) a lot of the scenes. This film is so beautifully shot and much attention to detail is given so as to envelop the viewer in colonial Vietnam during the hot summer months. I wish it would have gotten a 5.1 treatment as the ambient audio tracks on this are great. The story is, of course, based on the Duras book of the same name but is perhaps a bit more tame. Great interplay between the two characters makes this movie great and painful to watch as the story plays out. Certainly not for the younger set (though it seems the younger set watches this as it is practically soft-porn at times), it's very erotic, often arousing, and sadly painful but beautiful.