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Summary: Technical Note
Review: The DVD is in 1.85:1 not 1.66:1 aspect ratio as indicated on the package or by Amamzon.
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Summary: Captures the endemic seach for liberation in 1930's Paris
Review: This 1990 film, directed by Philip Kaufman, is set in Paris in 1931. This was a time and place between the two world wars that attracted writers and artists to a bohemian lifestyle, a time of discarding old conventions and embracing experimentation. Here, Henry Miller, an American expatriate wrote his wildly erotic books, which were banned in the United States. And Anais Nin, known for her extensive diaries about her sensory experiences, began her literary career here. It's no wonder that the two of them would meet and couple. They were both married at the time and this film is about the complex relationships between Henry, Anais, and their respective mates, all searching of a kind of liberation which was endemic at the time.Fred Ward plays Henry as a crass American with a Brooklyn accent that makes native New Yorkers, such as myself, cringe. He's all man though and it's easy to see why Anais Nin, played by the large-eyed petite Portuguese actress Maria de Medereiros, is attracted to him. Her own husband, Richard E. Grant, is attractive as well, and it's clear that they have a good romantic life together, but he's willing to look the other way at his wife's desire for others. When Miller's wife, June, played by Uma Thurman, a fiery androgynous mother-earth figure, comes on the scene, Anais Nin finds herself attracted to her as well. This sets the scene for some interesting complexities. The video is two hours and 16 minutes long and I expected to watch only half of it one evening and the rest of it the next night. However, from the moment it started I was completely captured by the story and just had to watch it all the way through. The cinematography is so good that it was even nominated for an academy award, not for just the excellent views of Paris, but for the way the intimate scenes are done which manage to convey the relationships and the sensualities of the moment while avoiding being explicit. The focus is on the romance and the concepts rather than the physical acts. This kept the scenes erotic and it also moved the story forward. I was totally intrigued and kept wondering what would happen next. The acting was uniformly good, but special note goes to Maria de Medeiros who played Anais Nin. As she works primarily in French films, I had never seen her before. She uses her huge dark eyes and facial expresses so well, that just a glance conveys layers of meaning. She's the focal point of every scene, in spite of the larger and more voluptuous Uma Thurman. And that's exactly what the director intended. Some might find this film slow as the drama and tension is just about the people, not about world events or outside influence. However, it manages to create a time and a place and people that influenced the literary world as well as the mores of future generations.
Rating:
Summary: Captures the endemic seach for liberation in 1930's Paris
Review: This 1990 film, directed by Philip Kaufman, is set in Paris in 1931. This was a time and place between the two world wars that attracted writers and artists to a bohemian lifestyle, a time of discarding old conventions and embracing experimentation. Here, Henry Miller, an American expatriate wrote his wildly erotic books, which were banned in the United States. And Anais Nin, known for her extensive diaries about her sensory experiences, began her literary career here. It's no wonder that the two of them would meet and couple. They were both married at the time and this film is about the complex relationships between Henry, Anais, and their respective mates, all searching of a kind of liberation which was endemic at the time. Fred Ward plays Henry as a crass American with a Brooklyn accent that makes native New Yorkers, such as myself, cringe. He's all man though and it's easy to see why Anais Nin, played by the large-eyed petite Portuguese actress Maria de Medereiros, is attracted to him. Her own husband, Richard E. Grant, is attractive as well, and it's clear that they have a good romantic life together, but he's willing to look the other way at his wife's desire for others. When Miller's wife, June, played by Uma Thurman, a fiery androgynous mother-earth figure, comes on the scene, Anais Nin finds herself attracted to her as well. This sets the scene for some interesting complexities. The video is two hours and 16 minutes long and I expected to watch only half of it one evening and the rest of it the next night. However, from the moment it started I was completely captured by the story and just had to watch it all the way through. The cinematography is so good that it was even nominated for an academy award, not for just the excellent views of Paris, but for the way the intimate scenes are done which manage to convey the relationships and the sensualities of the moment while avoiding being explicit. The focus is on the romance and the concepts rather than the physical acts. This kept the scenes erotic and it also moved the story forward. I was totally intrigued and kept wondering what would happen next. The acting was uniformly good, but special note goes to Maria de Medeiros who played Anais Nin. As she works primarily in French films, I had never seen her before. She uses her huge dark eyes and facial expresses so well, that just a glance conveys layers of meaning. She's the focal point of every scene, in spite of the larger and more voluptuous Uma Thurman. And that's exactly what the director intended. Some might find this film slow as the drama and tension is just about the people, not about world events or outside influence. However, it manages to create a time and a place and people that influenced the literary world as well as the mores of future generations.
Rating: 
Summary: A captivating look at the self-realization of a young woman.
Review: This adaptaion of the diaries of a young Anais Nin in the 1930s details the relationship that formed among author Henry Miller, his mysterious wife June, and Anais. Henry and June take Anais on a journey of self-discovery and freedom, all without the knowledge of her husband Hugo. Deceptively sweet, Anais appears to be the manipulator in this erotic journal of exploration. The cinematography is stunnning, captivating the shadows and mystery of the content. Unfortunately, the plot is slow-moving at times, yet it manages to maintain your attention with various sensory stimuli. I enjoyed the film because of its journey. It had an intriguing plot without being overly blatant with its sexual expose.
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Summary: Incredibly sensual, erotic without being excessively explici
Review: This film deals with Anais Nin and her exploration of sexuality while living in France around 1930. We are much too jaded. Doing things that were forbidden adds a spice that we can no longer taste. For Anais, sex was an adventure. For us, it's something late-night comics make clumsy jokes about. What a shame! This film works for the same reason that wearing layers of clothes that you can slowly, sensually remove is a lot sexier than bland nudity. If this film is any indication, sex was a lot better before the sexual revolution. The relationships between her and Henry Miller and, of course, June were as screwed-up as ours, but somehow seemed a lot more interesting.
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Summary: Where to start?
Review: This is a movie that I would reccommend to anyone looking to see something out of the ordinary. Frank Ward, Maria de Mederos, and Uma Thurman do an incredible job at protraying the charachters of Henry Miller, June Mansfield Miller, and Anais Nin. The camera-work is wonderful, the costumes gorgeous - one feels they are IN 1930's Paris! This is a wonderful movie.
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Summary: sexy and factual
Review: This movie chronicles the true life adventures of Anais the famous author. The movie is very sexy,sensual, and risky. Lovely flick.
Enjoy:
David
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Summary: A good primer for reading Henry Miller's books
Review: This movie is a good primer for reading Henry Miller's books... in 1991 I watched this movie and was drawn in by the charisma of Henry Miller's charcter played brilliantly by Fred Ward... I thought, who is the charasimatic one here? Henry Miller or Fred Ward... it turned out that (taking nothing away from Fred Ward), Henry Miller is as charasimatic (if not more so), than Fred Ward's portrayal here. Uma Therma plays the part well of June (or Mara), and Maria de Medeiros is a dead ringer for Anaïs Nin. That said, the movie is a little sluggish in pace, so it requires some patience to sit through, but it does have some great (redeming) moments...
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Summary: A friend lent me the movie, now I'm buying it.
Review: This movie is going to be mandatory viewing for anybody with whom I date or with whom I think about sleeping. Previously I've used Richard Brautigan's writing to filter out the thin-skinned and overly judgemental types of people -- those who I would not want to waste time trying to stimulate otherwise. The photography alone, recapturing Paris in the 30's, was worth the sitting. The subject mattter further surprised and pleased me -- discovering a bisexual celebrity in my grandparents' generation seemed pretty significant. I appreciated the other reviewers pointing out that the real-life individuals were a bit rastier than the roles played in this movie. That seems reasonable enough.
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Summary: Excelsior!
Review: This picture goes far away from the silly and boring movies the most people uses to see. Here we found a real story about eroticism beyond sex.
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