Athens International Film Festival
aiff

The Lovers

26/9/2016, 17:45, Danaos 1 29/9/2016, 21:00, Danaos 2

To stave off the ennui of domestic life in the countryside a young wife treats herself to trips to Paris and an affair with a sought-after bachelor, until her meeting with a young archaeologist turns her life upside down in a single night. The film, which shocked the conservative morals of its time with its liberated depiction of female sexuality, establishing Louis Malle as the poet of forbidden sensuality and Jeanne Moreau as a timeless sex symbol, is a splendidly shot adult fairy tale about love as an invincible driving force, capable of standing up to any social convention. Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

amants

A young wife tries to escape the tediousness of family and everyday life in the French provinces by making frequent visits to Paris, where she attends high society events and meets with her lover, an eligible bachelor. However, a chance meeting with a young archaeologist will change her life overnight, forcing her to reconsider everything she once took for granted.

With his second film, Louis Malle establishes himself as a poet of forbidden sensuality, consolidating Jeanne Moreau’s status as the ?thinking man’s? sex symbol. It was no accident that the film shocked conservative sensibilities and challenged censors with its candid (although rather tame by today’s standards) love scenes, and its bold and uncompromising portrayal of female sexuality. A scathing commentary on the glamorous artifice of bourgeois society, ?Les Amants? is also a superbly shot adult fairy tale about love as an overpowering force able to defy social conventions.

Director: Louis Malle
Screenwriter: Louise de Vilmorin, Dominique Vivant Denon
DoP: Henri Decae
Editor: Leonide Azar
Principal Cast: Jean Moreau, Jean-Marc Bory, Judith Magre

France | 1958 | B&W | 35mm | 90’ | French



    Publication date: 2016-09-11 12:04:02

    Λουί Μαλ: Les Fleurs du Malle

    Λουί Μαλ: Les Fleurs du Malle

    Elevator to The Gallows

    Elevator to The Gallows

    An illicit couple. A seemingly perfect crime. A desperate night in Paris. Suffocating suspense, fatal romanticism, Jeanne Moreau's aristocratic beauty and Miles Davis' now legendary jazz soundtrack converge in Louis Malle's claustrophobic debut, an emblematic film noir which breathed new life in the genre, forever leaving its mark on French cinema.

    The Fire Within

    The Fire Within

    An alcoholic, self-destructive author wanders around Paris for a day, striving to reconnect with old flames, friends and acquaintances, and desperately trying to find a reason to stay alive. The first of the many masterpieces by Louis Malle is an unbearably melancholic, yet charming ballad for those who feel like they don't belong anywhere. Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

    Murmur of the Heart

    Murmur of the Heart

    14-year-old Laurent is growing up in 50s France, smothered by his Italian mother's affection, ignored by his father and teased by his older brothers. He tries to discover the world, lose his virginity and rebel. Louis Malle reformulates the adventure called adolescence with rare tenderness, a disarming sense of humour and a guilt-free stance on taboos, presenting one the most beautiful coming-of-age stories ever told on screen and causing a scandal because of an incest scene. Nominated for Oscar for Best Screenplay.

    Lacombe, Lucien

    Lacombe, Lucien

    In 1944 France, 18-year-old Lucien asks to join the Resistance - when he is turned down, he joins the Gestapo instead. Drunk on power, he will find himself at a crossroads when he falls for a Jewish girl. In one of his masterpieces and one of the first films openly addressing the collaboration of some French citizens with the German occupiers, Malle calmly sketches the complex psychological profile of the most ambivalent character in his filmography and that of an entire country under the threat of being divided.