Edinburgh International Film Festival

The Lovers (Les Amants), directed by Louis Malle and starring Jeanne Moreau, is an excellent movie from a French filmmaker.  Shot entirely on location and in the French language, this film broke all the rules in American cinema.  In the mid 1960’s, this film was the focus of a Supreme Court ruling on obscenity after a theatre owner had been jailed for obscenity after showing The Lovers at his establishment.  The Supreme Court overturned all the convictions of the lower courts, and one of the justices made the famous statement “I know obscenity when I see it, and this is not it.” The story centers on a young lady, Jeanne, who is married to the owner of a newspaper.  She is not happy at her country home, so she travels often to Paris, where she visits her best friend from childhood and secretly courts a polo player.  In the end however, she finds she is not happy with her life, and finds, suddenly and without searching, a way to change it.
The film contains a wonderful story of love and the suddenness of how it can change a person’s life.  It is sad that she wasn’t able to find true love before marriage.  However, the fact that she realized her marriage wasn’t making her happy and chose to change it was a good and, I believe, positive event in her life.  She may not be sure of her new lover, but she is aware that she needs change, and that is the catalyst for further change and empowerment.  I give the film four stars, because of good acting, good cinematography, and historical importance.