PodBill Just what I expected

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

elianne basset This film is my favorite. It shows how a Chinese man in his thirties falls in love with a 15-year-old girl. Although she is not conscious of the love she feels for him because of the social pressure she has to face, young Marguerite Duras (the film is based on her autobiography)completely abandons herself to the man and discovers true love. To me, the way the film was shot is quite poetic, even artistic. Far from conventions, The Lover is an immersion in colonial Asia. You can smell,ear,taste and touch what the characters are experiencing: something unique that even time can't erase.

The_Film_Cricket I would love to have added 'The Lover' to my very short list of entertaining sexual adventure movies, up there with 'Emmanuel' and 'Young Lady Chatterly'. I could, if I had ever sensed that the movie was headed in that direction.When the lovers in this movie are together, their scenes are thorough enough to fit the bill of those two other titles but when the movie veers away from that it turns drab, dull and lifeless. By that reckoning, we sense that we know the real purpose behind the making of this film.Based on a book by Margaurite Duras, the movie tells the story of a French student (Jane March) in Indochina in the 1920s who falls in lust with a rich Chinese aristocrat (Tony Leung) twenty years her senior. They see each other and each knows what the other wants. Soon they are meeting regularly for a secret sexual affair.Because 'The Lover' is treated seriously I had a hard time finding a foothold. The movie is constructed as a story of two people from different worlds who are divided by racial lines at a time when crossing such lines meant grave consequences. But the movie doesn't worry about those elements very much; they seem treated at throwaways to what we they think we really came to see. The movie doesn't even have time to credit the characters with names. March and Lueng are simply listed in the credits as 'The Young Girl' and 'The Chinaman.The rest of the movie we can predict. She is bored in her life and is looking for adventure. He is rich and is headed back to an arranged marriage and a lifetime of unhappiness. The characters don't have time to deal with these issues. The movie is more interested in their affair, which is not constructed out of personality but out of the kind attraction that make up one of those glossy Playboy videos.'The Lover' was directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, a director who's work I have not come to like very much. His films are beautiful to look at but miss the human element to the machinations of the plot.This is a good-looking movie. The cinematography by Robert Fraisse is sumptuous and both leads are attractive people but I wish the movie had made up its mind. As an adventurous sex romp it might have worked. But it opts for a serious story and 'The Lover' doesn't have a brain in its pretty little head.

johnodq Went to see this in the cinema, at the time all the press was raving about it and "the sinner from Pinner".I sat through the whole film waiting for something interesting to happen, NOTHING happened.10 minutes in people were walking out of the theatre, 20 minutes in and my girlfriend and at least half of the rest of the audience were snoring.Having seen the original Emmanuelle (1974) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071464/ in the cinema (at a much younger age) and all the comparisons to it I thought this would at least be mildly entertaining but this is one of those films that has you thinking to yourself "I want the time I wasted watching that crap back!" If you are considering watching this then also consider watching some paint dry or contemplating ditch water as you will find it more soothing and satisfying than this pap.

Derek Lee I first watched this movie in 1992 with my second girlfriend... I was 32 at the time and had very limited experience with women. This movie was so life changing in so many different ways for me. I have always have had playboy tendencies and the story really kind of resonated with me. Its about a Chinese trust fund type of dude who basically just hung out and partied with different women, one day he meets a young white school girl and they seem to really click. For the rest of the movie, they basically just hang out and have mostly a physical relationship. This film is one of the most erotic and well filmed movies I have ever seen! In 1992 I barely ever saw anything like this and have not since. The build up of sexual tension is something that you never see in any films. As far as the explicitness, it never really occurred to me that this film was explicit at all. Two years after I saw this film, I became single, and for the next ten years, I basically lived the lifestyle of the Chinese Playboy. In fact I seduced at least half of the women during this time period by showing the video, there were some misses, one gorgeous Russian girl who was actually a bit innocent, found it somewhat pornographic and I blew that date. But we did become good friends to this day anyways. This movie is one reason I had such a great love life during those years. It makes me wonder about the power of great movies, because my other couple of favorite movies actually kind of frames my lifestyle too. For those who don't like it much, there might just be some racism involved, seeing a non-white male, especially an Asian male in such a sexual movie must be kind of a role reversal from the usual negative stereotyping of my race. Thank you the creators of this movie, I have had a great couple of decades thanks to your movie...