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An Affair Of Love

2000, Movie, R, 80 mins

An Affair Of Love: Review

AFFAIR OF LOVE, AN | INTIMATE AFFAIR, AN | PORNOGRAPHIC AFFAIR, A | UNE LIAISON D'AMOUR | UNE LIAISON PORNOGRAPHIQUE
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Originally titled A Pornographic Affair, this slight, bittersweet romance from French director Frederic Fonteyne is actually nothing of the kind. "Une liaison pornographique" is what one middle-aged Parisian woman (Nathalie Baye) signs on for when she agrees to meet the man who responded to the provocative personal ad she placed in a raunchy adult magazine. Now that she's single, she wants to fulfill a particular sexual fantasy she's entertained for years. He (Sergi Lopez) shares her kink, and the two embark on what was never meant to be anything more than a purely sexual relationship with one unspoken rule: No exchange of personal information, not even names. But it's no use. They get to talking and find they really like each other; six months later, they agree to take the plunge and try making love "the normal way." Then, just as they start to let their guards drop, they begin to delude themselves into thinking they know each other's minds, and soon the whole thing has slipped through their fingers. That the relationship is doomed is a foregone conclusion — the lovers' trysts are intercut with a series of after-the-fact interviews that make it clear from the start they're no longer together — and given the extreme caution with which the film's subjects approach each other, it isn't hard to guess what goes wrong. That said, this short, gentle film is surprisingly involving. There's a genuine warmth between Baye and Lopez, and their ability to create full, sympathetic characters out of deliberately underwritten roles is amazing: Forget back story or motivation — these two don't even have names. That the film doesn't feel like a bad theater exercise is also a tribute to Fonteyne's own talents as a fine director of actors. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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