THE LOVERS Movie Review

The film that secured an international reputation for Louis Malle was his second feature, a portrait of a rich, unsatisfied, provincial wife (Jeanne Moreau) and her two adulterous affairs. The Lovers was controversial for a few reasons, and the biggest one was the fact that Moreau drives off at the end of the film with the second—and younger—of her lovers (Jean-Marc Bory), both he and she free of guilt; they don't even go over a cliff in a traffic accident. The film scored in American art houses for its then-candid love scenes, which look modest by today's standards yet still reveal an erotic abandon in the narrative that was unusual in its day. The Lovers is the movie that made Moreau a recognized screen presence, and established the restless sexuality that she would continue to be associated with. Henri Decaë provided the dreamy black-and-white images that always stop short of hazy, calendar-art eroticism. The Brahms on the soundtrack is the perfect, witty accompaniment to this pleasurable, high-toned, high-fashion snapshot of low-down longings among the bourgeoisie.

NEXT STOP … The Fire Within, La Dolce Vita, Damage

1959 90m/B FR Jeanne Moreau, Alain Cuny, Jose-Luis De Villalonga, Jean-Mark Bory; D: Louis Malle; W: Louis Malle. Venice Film Festival '59: Special Jury Prize. VHS NYF, FCT, ING