The Lover

The Lover (French L'Amant) is an autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras, published in 1984 by Les Éditions de Minuit. It has been translated to 43 languages. It was awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt.

The Lover is also a movie based on this novel, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Jane March, Tony Leung Ka Fai.

Plot Summary

This summary is for the 1992 film.

Set in 1929 French Colonial Vietnam, a teen-aged causcasian French girl (Duras) starts an affair with a Chinese man from a wealthy family to escape her lonely existence in boarding school. In private, their relationship is physically and emotionally fulfilling. Due to the social and racial mores of the age, in public they have to play the roles of concubine and sugar daddy. When the man is forced to take a Chinese bride by his family, the girl decides to emigrate back to France. The film is noted for several sexually explicit scenes. When the film opened, it gained notoriety for the under-aged protagonist and the possibility that the actress Jane March was also under-age while filming. It has also been alleged that the sex in the film was not faked.

External link

• L'Amant Fan Club on The Lover
• Tony & Jane:L'Amant Fan Club
• A Review by Moviemaniac
• IMDb entry on The Lover