Rating: 
Summary: Most Amazing Movie
Review: I bought this dvd abroad, and heard that it had been banned in the States because it was considered pornography, so I don't know what version of the movie this is: the "American one" with over 12 minutes missing, or the "European one". The story line is a 'Lolita'-like motif: a teenage girl and a 30-something man become lovers. Even though the movie has some explicit sex scenes (if you watch the "European verision"), I think that in all, this movie is one of the most beautiful and sesual movies I've even seen. The movie plays close attention to detail that places the audience in the actual scene. Everyone should check it out to see the hype. It's a beautiful and tragic love story that really touched me.
Rating:
Summary: Tender and near sublime
Review: ...The beauty of this film and its heartbreaking romance lie in the unspoken, between the acrid disavowals of love, in the bitter context of colonial racial, socio-economic, and gender relations. Tony Leung and Jane March superbly portray the tensions existing within the multiple layers of colonial relations - the emasculation of the Chinaman vis a vis the privilege of the girl's whiteness playing out along with the shame and barbarity of the girl's poverty vis a vis the civility and access of his Chinese (not even native) affluence. Ultimately, the schism wrought by the sociocultural constraints of their disparate backgrounds is what tears them asunder or rather dooms their romance from the beginning.What Annaud does brilliantly is to portray the lovers' yearning without giving voice to it overtly. He depicts it through a series of disavowals, through the wounds they inflict on each other, and allows the viewer to fill in that which cannot be uttered. As for the graphic portrayals of sex, I am usually the first to decry graphic sex scenes. However, in this film, the sex scenes again plays out the dynamics of the characters as a part of the larger colonial relations. The tenderness of this film and of its romance lie within the beautifully cinematographed sex scenes as well as in the violence and poignancy that exists throughout rest of the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Annuad..No
Review: What can I say about The Lover! nothing much really..It is disappointing to say the least, especially if you expect a cinematic masterpiece follow up to The Name of the Rose. It is the story of an impossible relationship between a french young girl,and a chinese man in indochina, based on a story by Marguarite Duras. The first problem with the film is the casting of Jane March, who really does not have the sensuality and erotisicm of the french heroine she is playing..The performance is just dull.as for the hot intimate scenes, and the big question that arose at the time..did they do it or were they acting? to that I say, who cares really!!!
a huge disappointment from a director that gave us Chariots of Fire, The Bear and of course The Name of the Rose.
Rating: 
Summary: The Cinematography will leave you breatheless..........
Review: I saw this movie when it was in the movie houses. Just the cinematography alone is worth it. I purchased both the dvd and vhs version just in case. I read the book and was blown away. We all no that the movie does not always following the book but it is just a pretty movie to look at. There are some scenes that are not comfortable but all in all a great movie. Tony Leung Ka Fai is at his best. I would buy this a million times over just for the visuals.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most beautiful films ever!
Review: "The Lover" is an amazing and touching film about intergenerational love. Besides just the story the exquisite soundtrack by Gabriel Yared and the cinematography make the film that much more wonderful. As a warning though ... very, very sad. But oh, it IS soooooooo beautiful that it is quite worth watching over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely good.
Review: The most erotic movie I've seen, bar none. Nothing else in it's class, nothing near it.
Rating:
Summary: the rest of the world disappears....
Review: from the couple's perspective, and so it should from the viewer's....the amazon review has it all wrong when it comes to this type of relationship...there is no other dimension that matters...jane march and her lover are blind to anything outside the bedroom....they and the viewer ideally want it to stay that way forever....real life says it can't and it's this reality that ends the story...but what they have had for that moment in their lives is the best life has to offer...
Rating:
Summary: THE MOST AMAZING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD
Review: This movie is a visally stunning masterpiece. I adore it to death. This is based on the two autobiographies by Maurgurite Duras "The Lover" which I read was THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ and "The North China Lover" which I am reading and loving. this film is touching and amazingly sizzling. This is the true and heartwarming story of a tumultous affair between an adolescent french girl and an older chinese man. This mesmerizing masterpiece which was masterfully filmed and acted by Jane March as the french girl and Tony Leung as the chinese man. Buy this film right now and have a masterful experince.
Rating:
Summary: OK, there is sex in it. but beyond that...
Review: ... this is a perfect film... ...from the ultra close up of the pen writing, to Jeanne Moreau's gravely voice-over, to the engine pulsing long shots of the ferry over the Mekong, every frame in fact... ...in the end the poignancy of love lost is truly moving. Romeo and Juliet without the contrivance.
Rating:
Summary: From Lust to Love
Review: This is a physically beautiful film, set in an exotic locale (Vietnam) and inhabited by very attractive actors who know their trade. It starts as a lustful adventure for the wastrel son of a Chinese merchant and a bored teenage girl who finds her all-girls academy to be quite stifling. It ends as a true and tragic love story as the protagonists find that their sexual affair leads to real caring. Many professional critics disliked this movie, but my wife and I both found it quite involving. This director (Jean-Jacques Annaud) also created "Quest For Fire", which I think met a similar fate among the critics. And again, both my wife and I found that very unusual film to be quite impressive. I do hope that movie-lovers will give this one a chance. It was meant to be a film of quality, and in spite of its frank sexuality it is by no means to be considered soft-core pornography. It is perhaps in the same genre as "Sirens", a little Australian movie that combines a rather complete view of Elle MacPherson with a clever, well-photographed story. Let me say that if you're looking for a good "date" movie, here's your answer. This is a love story that both sexes will enjoy. Warm up the DVD player, and lower the lights.
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