L' amant Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

L' amant Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 23, 2012

Nominated for Oscar for Best Cinematography, Jean-Jacques Annaud's "L'amant" a.k.a. "The Lover" (1992) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German distributors Universum Film. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer and standard making of featurette. In English, with optional German SDH and English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Jane March

Indochina, the 1920s. A teenage French girl encounters a handsome Chinese man who has just returned home after years of living in Paris. The two are immediately attracted to each other but afraid to make a move -- the man feels that it isn’t right while the girl is simply confused. So, they part ways.

They see each other again in Saigon, where the girl attends a boarding school. Soon after, they begin meeting in a room in a poor area of the city. There, they make love and talk about the things that make them different -- the color of their skin, their experiences, their social status.

The more the girl and the man learn about each other, the more they begin to realize that there is no future for their relationship. He could not possibly marry her because she is white and has already made love to him. She can’t marry him because her family would never accept him. (Later on, during a casual dinner, it is made clear why). Understanding that eventually they will have to part ways, the two succumb to their carnal desires.

The open relationship, however, evolves in a way that surprises the lovers. Naturally, the man begs his father to allow him to marry the girl. But he refuses and instead sets a date for his wedding to a young and rich Chinese woman whom the man does not love. The girl, who understands that the end of their relationship is near, asks the man to see her one more time before he gets married.

Based on Marguerite Duras’ novel, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s The Lover is a beautiful romantic film about pure, unbridled passion. But because the film does not produce any ‘serious’ statements about love -- and what these serious statements could have been I would never know -- most American critics hated it with a passion. (For a strange take on the film, read Washington Post staff writer Rita Kempley’s review, in which she describes it as "coffee-table pornography").

My take on the film is simple: It is about two people who become attracted to each other, fall in love -- yes, as strange as it may sound, you could fall in love with someone after you make love to him/her, not before -- and then part ways because both understand that they met in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yes, the film is explicit, but when real people make love, ‘explicit’ usually happens.

The feelings and emotions the lovers struggle with are also beyond credible. Both are unsure what to expect because the age difference between them is too big; the man is uncertain, even feeling guilty, while the girl is confused but at the same time willing to experiment. Is this enough for a long-lasting romantic story? Why not, the most intense love stories are usually the ones that just happen, not the ones that need to be planned. In my experience, the ‘serious’ also usually comes later on. In the beginning there is only attraction, very similar to the one that the man and the girl experience.

March is excellent as the young, curious and brittle girl who has to make important decisions. The character transformation she undergoes after she begins seeing the Chinese man is indeed very convincing. Leung, who looks incredibly stylish in his white suits, is also outstanding as the lover who gets his heart broken.

The film is beautifully lensed by Robert Fraisse (Enemy at the Gates) and complimented by yet another terrific score by the great Gabriel Yared (Betty Blue, Camille Claudel).

L' amant Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Lover arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German distributors Universum Film.

The high-definition transfer is quite pleasing. Obviously, it was not struck from a new restoration of The Lover, but the basics we typically pay attention to when older films transition to Blu-ray are indeed solid. Generally speaking, detail appears vastly improved when comparing the Blu-ray release to the old R1 DVD release MGM issued in 2001, while contrast levels are a lot more stable, especially during the darker sequences. The color-scheme is also far more appealing - the light greens, blues, yellows, and browns look natural and stable. Furthermore, there are no traces of serious denoising corrections. Naturally, a layer of light grain has been retained throughout the entire film. However, as a few of our screencaptures show, some of it is occasionally mixed with light noise. The best news here is that there are no traces of overzealous sharpening. I also did not see any distracting aliasing or banding patterns to report in this review. All in all, this is a decent presentation of The Lover that should appeal to its fans. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

L' amant Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with portions of French and Cantonese). For the record, Universum Film have provided optional English and German SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is a good enough reason to consider upgrading your old DVDs (Region 1 or 2). There are more than a few scenes where Gabriel Yared's beautiful score is prominent that sound so much better now - they are lush, well-rounded, and vibrant. The dialog is also crisper and clearer. Still, do not expect the sound to fill up your room because as it is the case with so many older films the sound design of The Lover is quite modest.

L' amant Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original French trailer for The Lover. Music only. (1 min, PAL).

• Making of - a standard featurette with plenty of footage from the shooting of the film, various cast and crew interviews, notes on the production history of the film, etc. In English and French. (53 min, PAL).

• BD-Live Functionality -

L' amant Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

German distributors Universum Film have produced a decent Blu-ray release of Jean-Jacques Annaud's beautiful The Lover. As far as I know, this is the only English-friendly and Region-Free Blu-ray release anywhere in the world. If you like the film, I strongly recommend importing it as it represents a good upgrade in quality over the old R1 DVD release MGM produced in 2001. RECOMMENDED.