The Lover (L'Amant)....R2 question
 

Is there anyone on this board that owns the French disc of THE LOVER (L'Amant) shown here:

http://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/dvd.php?id=4328

and here:
http://www.dvdpascher.net/bestof/toppack87.php

If anyone does I would like to know how does it compare
(R2) to the MGM R1 version? I have the option of picking either this one or the French disc and would like to hear from someone that owns this release?

I am aware of the fact that the original English track is only surround 2.0 (but that is the case with the R1 release as well). What is the picture quality of the French disc and are the extras in English? As far as I know they are both uncut/unrated!!

Here's the MGM disc:
http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_ite...&item_id=39544

????

anyone has to own this.......

I was just about to ask about this DVD. Does anybody have any details? I would specifically like to know about picture quality (vs. the US MGM release) and the extras. Are they in English?

I have the HK DVD of this and have had it for quite awhile now - haven't watched it yet... talk me into watching it. Is it good?

not imnsho

. . .:o . . .

I would not listen to Rita Kempley telling me what is good and what is not. Esp. knowing her bias....with that said this is indeed a DIFFERENT type of film.

...well...

. . . :o . . .

I am well aware of Mr.Ebert's review and I also happen to disagree with the half dozen other reviews at rottentomatoes.com that do not speak of this film quite highly. Hence my remark that this is indeed a "different" type of film.

Some might even claim that the book is much better...I do not know and can not comment on it as I have not had the pleasure of reading it. For what is worth though this is a typical Annaud film....not as good as Betty Blue but far from being a cinematic disaster.

ps
For the record just to make it clear....Ebert's review refers to the rated R version not the longer MGM uncut version we have in R1 land.

The book is amazing. Marguerite Duras is my favorite author and L'amant is my favorite of all of her works. In order to truly understand and appreciate the film, you really should read the novel. Annaud was really successful in capturing the mood of Duras' book.

Ms. Duras sure as heck didn't think so...

. . . :o . . .

Duras wanted the film to be shot more in the style of her own films. She was originally supposed to write the screenplay for the film. After a series of disagreements with Annaud, she eventually left the production and went on to write a "retelling" of the story in her book "The North China Lover."

Yann Andrea, Duras' companion before her death, later admitted that Duras had seen Annaud's film and had been moved to tears. Her enormous ego would never have allowed her to admit that perhaps another director's vision of the story was better than her own.

Annaud is a bit too American for the French taste (L'Ours, The Name of the Rose, 7 years,...)

But L'Amant is a pretty good movie. The atmosphere of colonial Indochina is truly great in this movie.