The Lover

L'Amant (1992)

Timing: 1:55 (115 min)

6.978/10
741

7.578/10
23865

6.8/10
25000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 70

Actors and characters

Release date

1992-01-22

Country

France, United Kingdom, Vietnam

Production

Timothy Burrill Productions, Renn Productions, Grai Phang Film Studio, Films A2

Genre

Drama, Romance

Budget

$0

Revenue

$5 013 090

Website

Director

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Actors

Jane March, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Frédérique Meininger, Arnaud Giovaninetti, Melvil Poupaud, Lisa Faulkner, Jeanne Moreau, Xiem Mang, Philippe Le Dem, Ann Schaufuss
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Claude Berri

Operator

Robert Fraisse

Composer

Gabriel Yared

Artist

Audition

Editing

Noëlle Boisson
All team (14)

• The film is based on Marguerite Duras's novel "The Lover" (L'amant, 1984).
• When the film was being shot in Ho Chi Minh City, employees of the Soviet consulate and trade mission were recruited to participate in the mass scenes (in the restaurant, boarding house, and on the ship).
• Vietnam provided the film crew with one of its government helicopters.
• A 1920s steamboat, which arrived in Ho Chi Minh City from Cyprus, was used to film two main scenes.
• Director Anno visited Vietnam in 1989 as part of preparations for filming, but was disappointed with the conditions (rats and spiders in the best colonial hotel, lack of air conditioning, and so on). As a result, he decided to film the movie about Vietnam where Western directors traditionally did – in Thailand, Malaysia, or the Philippines. A year later, he decided to film in Vietnam again. According to the studio and the director, their film was the first Western film about Vietnam since 1975 to be filmed in Vietnam itself.
• Filming began on January 14, 1991. Two months after this date, Jane March turned eighteen. It was her first role in a film, but she was already a top model. The director's wife saw her photo in Just Seventeen magazine and brought her to his attention.
• Although the Vietnamese government at this time had moved away from isolationism and was friendly to foreigners, all filming and script work was carried out in agreement with the authorities. Therefore, all scenes of a sexual nature were filmed in Paris. The filming took a total of 135 days.
• The film is based on Marguerite Duras' novel "The Lover" (L'amant, 1984).