The Lover

Drama, Music, Romance
France / French

In 1929 in French colonial Vietnam a teenage European girl(Jane March) is traveling by herself. On a ferry across the delta she encounters a wealthy Asian man, simply referred to in the story as “The Chinaman”(Tony Leung), who offers her a lift in his limousine. She accepts and they talk to each other and soon become caught up in a steamy affair that lasts nearly two years. Eventually the Chinaman meets the girl's family, who is very obnoxious to him. His own family wants him to marry a girl they've chosen according to an arrangement they have made with another prominent Chinese family, and he feels he must accommodate his family even though he loves the European girl, and she loves him. The story is told from the point of view of the girl years later when she is an older woman(Jeanne Moreau).