Cast: Nathalie Baye, Sergi Lopez
Director: Frederic Fonteyne
Producers: Patrick Quinet, Rolf Schmid, Claude Waringo
Screenplay: Philippe Blasband
Cinematography: Virginie Saint-Martin
Music: André Dziezuk, Marc Mergen, Jeannot Sanavia
U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features
In French with subtitles
An Affair of Love is a magnificent meditation upon the mutability of human desires and emotions. Meticulously crafted by director Frederic Fonteyne (in his second feature outing) and flawlessly acted by leads Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez, An Affair of Love offers the kind of deeply reasoned and rewarding romance that is almost never presented in traditional motion pictures (such as the slicker, high-profile American productions that dominate the world market). Like most French films, this is a talky one, but, when the characters open their mouths, they are not just doing so to fill time - they actually have something to say.
If the title, An Affair of Love, sounds depressingly generic, don't blame Fonteyne. When the movie debuted at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival, it did so under the moniker of Une Liaison Pornographique, or A Pornographic Affair. After acquiring the property, however, Fine Line Features decided that the use of the word "pornographic" in the title might scare viewers away. The fact that there's nothing remotely pornographic about the film is irrelevant; Fine Line's decision is illustrative of how skittish and unwilling to take chances North American distributors are when it comes to foreign fare.
The underlying premise of An Affair of Love represents a fairly typical foundation for a motion picture romance (one that we've seen countless times before) - two individuals, initially drawn to each other for purely sexual reasons, fall in love. The mechanism of their first encounter is a personal ad that the woman (Baye) places in a magazine. The man (Lopez) answers, the two arrange a meeting, then, after a short introduction, they retire to a room in a hotel. We never learn exactly what they do behind the closed door of that room, but both acknowledge that it's out-of-the-ordinary. After their first encounter, they meet weekly for trysts, until, eventually, they decide they want to try making love "normally". During this session, Fonteyne allows us into the hotel room and discreetly captures all of the action, which includes a couple of playful conversations. Following this, they begin to realize that they have come to regard each other as more than sexual objects. Even though they don't know each other's names, ages, or professions, there is a deep connection. They feel comfortable and relaxed with each other, and, while sex is still an important part of their relationship, it is no longer the only part. In short, they have fallen in love. Yet neither knows how to handle the unexpected turn of events.
The story, which clocks in at a skinny 80 minutes, is presented in an atypical fashion. Intercut with scenes featuring the two unnamed characters conversing with each other in Paris cafes and discussing life and love in a hotel room are clips from faux interviews conducted with them an unspecified time after the end of their affair. Both have changed somewhat in the interim; she has dyed her hair black and he sports a beard. Their memories about specifics have grown vague - for example, their recollections of how they met are different. But it's clear that neither of them has forgotten the powerful emotions that brought them together and eventually resulted in their breaking up.
Fonteyne is methodical in his approach to the subject matter; he chronicles the affair from start to finish - from the nervous uncertainty of the first meeting to the sad, final encounter. In addition to providing some important background information, the interview segments offer a sense of closure - from the earliest moments in the film, we know that these characters will not end up together in some fairytale, happily ever after state, but that they will move on with their lives.
With An Affair of Love, Fonteyne has bucked the popular trend and created a love story for and about adults. This is not aimed at or placed within the teen or twentysomething market, where most romances transpire. Baye, who has lost none of the appeal that has earned her plaudits over a distinguished career (she has appeared in over forty films, including three by Truffaut and The Return of Martin Guerre), is in her early 50s, and Lopez (nominated for a Cesar for 1997's Western), while younger, is no callow youth. These two develop the degree of intense chemistry that only mature actors can muster (and which might make some less experienced performers uncomfortable); their interaction feels entirely unfeigned. The most touching scene in the film - the one in which they are shown together in bed- is perfectly written and acted, with the characters exhibiting all the awkwardness one would expect in this situation. This isn't the first time they're experiencing each other's bodies, but it is the first time they're allowing themselves to become vulnerable.
Ultimately, miscommunication and a fear of intimacy doom the relationship, but Fonteyne builds slowly to the inevitable break-up, allowing us to explore every stage in the couple's interaction. Baye and Lopez are on equal footing, each matching the other's performances scene-for scene, look-for-look, mannerism-for-mannerism, fully inhabiting the skins of their characters. We learn almost nothing about these two as far as their lives apart from each other are concerned, but we come to know them through this relationship. We discover them as they discover each other. This is one of the many small pleasures offered by An Affair of Love, which ranks amongst the year's most thoughtful and perceptive dramas.
© 2000 James Berardinelli