The Lover -1992 Film- Site

Visually, The Lover is a masterpiece. Cinematographer Robert Fraisse bathes the film in the golden, humid light of the Mekong Delta. The screen feels perpetually damp; one can almost feel the sweat on the skin and hear the buzz of insects. This is not a romanticized, tourist-board Vietnam; it is a country of choking heat, monsoon rains, and fading colonial glory.

opens with an elderly woman’s voiceover—Marguerite’s voice, ethereal and resigned. We flashback to a muddy Mekong Delta ferry crossing in 1929. A teenage French girl (Jane March), frail, impoverished, wearing a faded dress and a man’s fedora, catches the eye of a sleek black limousine. Inside is a Chinese dandy, the Son of a wealthy financier (Tony Leung Ka-fai). He is nervous, pale, and clearly western-educated. He approaches her with trembling hands. The Lover -1992 Film-