Avis des utilisateurs

This is one French movie which I am pretty sure will not run through an American remake. It has all the elements that attract the intellectual European movie goer, and all what is rejected by the typical American viewer. It is a love story with two characters, almost everything happens in just two places (a restaurant and a hotel room), drama is based on characters development, and eroticism is all but explicit. It is a love story, but it departs the usual romantic comedy pattern and escapes the cheap happy end that spoils that many American movies. Acting is superb, and actually the best part in the film, though it is sometimes too static, more Russian or East European style than French. At the end, you are left with a simple story of un-realized love, the message being that the imposed limits of communication according to which the heros decided to play decide their ultimate faith, and the faith of their relationship. Not too much, but decent cinema if you like the style and genre. 8/10 on my personal scale.

A careful & thought-provoking examination of how two lives intersect.... and how the nature of that intersection defines and then changes the level of personal engagement. The film is compelling in its continual exploration of how we know ourselves, how we know each other...the lens & filters (real & imagined) through which we know the world. Both performances were exemplary...and the conversations (which drove the bulk of the film) remarkable for their seeming realism. (even with subtitles!)

From its title, A Pornographic Affair might seem like the kind of film that might appeal to a 13-yr old boy just entering puberty. Its actually a very restrained and beautiful love story. The format of the narrative is in the form of interviews of Him and Her after the affair has ended. There is a mysterious fantasy which brought them together. We never find out, despite the interviewers repeated prodding, what that fantasy was that led Her to advertise and Him to read and respond to the advertisement.

Inevitably, the physical aspects of that fantasy don't matter because the two eventually move on to more conventional forms of sexual activity. Neither knows anything about the other - children, marital status, profession or age. Both are good people and inevitably the affair has to develop into something more. Both are charming and beautiful in their own way. Eventually they begin to like and be infatuated with each other.

Obviously, adult themes are explored in this film, but there is no gratuitous nudity or smut. It has a surprisingly human touch even though the route followed in a conventional relationship is inverted here.

In the search for intimacy and meaning in the dehumanizing urban environment, quite personable, intelligent and attractive people have to resort to newspaper or online ads to meet someone for romance or just companionship. In this film, however, a man and woman, both attractive and personable, seek depersonalised sex, not involvement. Or so they thought. Of course they become emotionally involved, and then the question becomes: will they continue?

This is a very nicely judged piece using a combination of interview sequences intercut with flashbacks. There are no distractions: we focus almost entirely on Nathalie and Sergi as they are interviewed separately about their affair. Their versions are not identical but there is only one flashback version of each encounter so there is not a lot of confusion. The curious thing is that although intimacy develops it follows the rules of the original impersonal pornographic encounter – no names, no talk about jobs and families and friends, no swapping of personal detail. They meet once or twice a week in the same coffee bar and hotel room for six months or more, yet still know virtually nothing about each other (apart from their sexual fantasies). Why this holding back? Neither is currently attached to anyone else. The only explanation is that they really didn't want to get involved, or don't want to take the risk. Burned before? Who knows?

Nathalie Baye as the (slightly older) woman is poised, charming and not obviously hung up about sex. She seeks the zipless f*** of feminist legend. She does have trouble expressing her feelings – for her `I love you' are the hardest words in the language (all right, `Je t'aime'). Sergi Lopez as her homme de jour is a bit more emotionally expressive but still holds himself back.

I suppose one could see the film as suggesting that the alienation of modern life can be traced to an unwillingness to become emotionally attached, that life is faster and cleaner if relationships are disposable without much pain. These two want intimacy, but they don't want to pay for it.

It's a well-made movie with plenty of Parisian bustle and lots of nice close-ups. It's all a bit sad, though. Have we been reduced to being consumers of personal relationships as well as sex?

An unnamed man and woman find each other through the personal ads of a sex magazine, to engage in a pornographic act that forms their mutual fantasy (the camera, old-Hollywood style, lingers in the hotel corridor during the act itself). They meet again; and again. They start to get to know and like each other. They make normal love. Maybe they'll have a normal relationship. But the film continually reminds us of the proximity of the crowd, within which they might blur back into being strangers; of the beguilingly complex topography of relationships (you feel the emotional landscape as electrically as you feel her finger trace the contours of his face and back in one scene); of the possibility for devastatingly wrong moves even amid the most enveloping intimacy; of the inevitability that even our profoundest memories will erode; of the relationship between the experience and the interpretation of an event. This is the epitome of a concise, elegant, sensitively written and acted European film; not designed to move an artistic mountain, but a certain crowd-pleaser.

Une Liaison Pornographique (A Pornographic Affair - please disregard the awful title 'An Affair of Love', which shows that the distributors either didn't watch the movie or didn't pay attention) is one of the most earnest, most naturalistic portrayals I've seen on film of a sexual relationship, and in that respect it's much more successful than English-speaking films (American and otherwise) that tried for something similar - films like Better Than Sex and Strictly Sexual, which attempted to shed Hollywood's romantic vision of sex, but ended up adhering to it anyway. As the female lead in Une Liaison Pornographique says in one of the film's key lines, sex in movies is either heaven or hell, but in real life it's usually somewhere in-between. The film shows that in-between with brutal honesty, neither idealizing it nor demonizing it, and manages a touching, frustrating, bleak portrayal of a subject that is at the heart of human nature and yet so difficult to handle in film.

Unfortunately, the refreshing realism and honesty, and the naturalistic performance of the two leads, aren't quite enough to make for a great film; the script just isn't good enough. The film is too short, not taking enough time to fully explore the relationship between the two leads, and yet it also feels excruciatingly long - large chunks of it are just not interesting enough. In the end it turn out to be a pretty frustrating and unfulfilling experience - partly intentional, to be sure, but that isn't quite enough to help overcome that feeling of dissatisfaction. I can't help but recommend the film for its stronger aspects, despite the fact that I can't honestly say I enjoyed it; and I can't shake the feeling that it could have been much better than it is.

This little movie is simply sublime. I ran across it again when searching for more Sergi Lopez films. His range is simply amazing, from sensitive fantasy lover (as in this film) to the most dastardly twisted villain. I would be hard-pressed to think of any more talented male actor in European film today. I particularly liked him in "Dirty Pretty Things", due to its serious, thoughtful treatment of the pressures on immigrants. "A Friend Like Harry" was just great entertainment, humor of the darkest sort.

"Une Liason Pornografique" is still another type of film altogether. The French produce many interesting films on sex, some successful, some less so. This is of the best I can recall from my own 20-year love affair with European art films. Another recent French film that I can whole-heartedly recommend is Coline Serreau's Chaos, which took several years to cross the ocean to the U.S., but was originally released in 2001. Also Chocolat by Claire Denys, another quiet but piercingly accurate character study.

"Affair.." is a technically and artistically well crafted film about an affair between an middle-aged couple who meet online and subsequently, at regular intervals, in a cafe where, after some chit-chat, they go off to a hotel for the physical activity. Most of what happens sexually in this sanitized film is behind closed doors and the audience is left to speculate. Their past and who they really are remains a mystery as well. In short we are never allowed to become involved with them in any way other than as voyeurs watching them analyze their feelings as they try to figure out if they are falling in love while leaving us with a feeling of detachment....outsiders looking in with the real story just beyond our reach as the film serves up one bit of story at a time all the way to its anticlimactic conclusion. For some the enigmatic nature of the film will be enough. For others the film will prove tedious.

It is not a perfect film, it has flaws, the most obvious being the pseudo psycho babble that could have been achieved with greater effect by having said less, but having said it better. It is a romance, it is romantic, it is sexy, and it is a slice of life, their lives, a small part that keeps the rest of their lives from being without charm. There is no need to contemplate the past or their futures but the moments that make the present happiness complete. The film proves that sex between mature adults can be beautiful, and not bound by the petty mores of witless societies that demand sex take place between pnuematically enhanced teenagers and souless males who would not understand the rhythms of sex without a street directory. Nathalie Baye was 51 when she made this film and has an attractive body, but she has a great way of making herself erotically desirable. Any person that has never laughed, joked or cried during sex has not had much good sex. It is the casual and caring ease between the leads that demonstrates how sex can be imtimate and romantic and caring. The people who call this movie cold have looked at it from the director's eyes and have failed to capture the warmth of the two leads. The title, I think is in the French style of ironic (a word missing from the American dictionary) rather than the British sense of the word. While the British treat irony like a Shakespearean tragedy the French equate it more with the "little death" and regard it more as humour tainted with pathos. The French idea of tragedy is to leave the ending out of movies, but perhaps I am over using irony here. If you have 80 minutes to spare to think about the relationships in your own life, then this little movie just might help you explore your own heart a little more. And remember a movie without flaws is called, "Looney Tunes."

"Une liaison pornographique" is a entertaining movie, but its beginning promises much more of what it finally delivers.

I liked the performances of Nathalie Baye and Sergi López, and the topic of the movie but I think with a better script this would have been a great movie.

The plot of the movie is about two people Nathalie Baye and Sergi López who meet frequently only to have sex without knowing anything else about each other like the name, profession, phone number, address etc. During the movie we can see to each one of them talking to the camera about what they thought about this kind of relationship that they had.

Sorry, but this is the kind of movie that pushes my buttons. This film takes itself very seriously and seems to think it is making a profound statement about something: men and women, relationships, love, sex--who knows what?--when in fact it dares and says nothing.

I won't rehash the plot, but I will make a few points about its illogicality and lack of believability. We have two people who are sneaking around, meeting clandestinely very much like two married people having an affair, although they both appear to be unattached. Why, then, the secrecy, and why does neither do more than hint at breaching their cloak of anonymity. Secondly, what sexual practice could be so unusual that it couldn't be talked about and would cause the man to say he would rather die than reveal it? After all, there are only so many things people can do, and both of these people seem reasonably experienced. This alleged sexual practice is only a gimmick to start the story going. And finally, where else but in the movies do people make love with sheets draped over them? It was the actress who presumable did not want to display her body. Fine, that is her right, but then why do a sex scene?

I'll stop here, but don't waste your time or money on this one.

Frerick Fonteyne's 'Une Liason Pornagrahique' is a brief, but very French film, with a stylish female protagonist, and lots of talking about sex. We see the story of a couple's relationship; they also recount their own recollections of it, which interestingly, do not always agree, though the film itself never settles their differences. But it's an essential part of the relationship that both partners go into the affair with a deliberate reserve; and although that coolness melts over time, the viewer is never allowed to get close enough to really care about either one. It's not badly executed, but I never felt truly involved.

My tag line says it all--the plot is OK, the actors are attractive and intelligent, but it didn't work for me--their sexual encounter was unconvincing, too "talky," and not intensely erotic--so the rest of the movie also seemed too cerebral and distant.

An ad in the paper with a specific sexual fantasy asked for. A meeting of 2 strangers, who remain so both to us and to each other. A subtle deepening of feelings for each other...this movie is so delicate it is like gossamer. Nuances of looks, smiles, movement. "Elle" winds up a little harder, "lui" a little softer. I was spellbound by it. Recommend it to those who like their movies to stay with them for a while. Great acting and direction.

Sometimes it seems that only the Europeans can get away with making a film as surface simple as "An Affair of Love" (AKA "Une Liaison Pornographique"). It tells the story of a woman and a man who meet for sex through a personal ad. Week after week they meet in a coffee shop then hike down the street to a hotel. It's got a certain "Last Tango in Paris" kind of flavor, with the sex-only connection between two otherwise mysterious characters being the most obvious core. Unlike that film "An Affair of Love" only briefly conveys any on screen sex, and tiptoes around it in dialogue. What really makes this film so European, though, is how it's told through flashback via an unexplained and unnecessary interview. It's a character-driven, reasonably romantic film that feels made by deft filmmakers, but a forced second act dramatic twist ruins its impact.

In a few years they made two movies that had similar plots: "Intimacy" and this "A Liason Pornographique". A man and a woman meet once in a week for one simple reason: to have sex. No love, no feelings... just sex. "Intimacy" was more pessimistic and dark, and maybe "A Lisaon" is more frivolous and absurd, and it looks more like a romantic comedy. Also the narration is pretty artificial: a fake interview with the main characters and a series of flashbacks.

It's a pretty nice reflection on how much we complicate things such as love or sex. It's been filmed in a modern style and it has a "trance" soundtrack that it will sound old fashioned in a few years.

*My rate: 6/10

I grabbed this video from Blockbuster not knowing until I got home that it was subtitled. I watched the French version with English subtitles. This movie was done so tasteful. What went on between the two characters behind closed doors goes as far as the viewers imagination. In this day and age when people resort more to meeting thru personal ads and online - this is a movie that shows what we are all looking for......that one passionate relationship where two people truly connect on a very deep level. I fell in love with Sergio Lopez and have become a huge fan!

A movie about all of us - what we dream of doing, do for real or envy others who do it. The mere meetings of the couple are the fantasy. It's an everyday matter to experience a blind date, but it's a one-to-a thousand chance that it will be so perfect. Its perfection makes the ending so tragic. I was to a great extent shocked by the anonymity, in which the couple exists. And how can "he" realize that he doesn't know neither her name, nor her telephone numbler, nor ...anything, after so many months of regular closeness?! This movie definitely moved me with the simplicity of the story and the tragedy of human misunderstanding. Again, I was fascinated by the beauty of European films.

Her (Nathalie Baye) places an ad in a magazine looking for a sexual partner to share her fantasy. He (Sergi Lopez) responds. They meet in a bistro on a gray afternoon in Paris and proceed to a nearby hotel. Their coupling is very

satisfactory to them and they proceed to other encounters. All this is told in flashback with both speaking separately, and wistfully about what happened

and how it ended.

This is a fascinating story, appealingly told with sureness by director Frederic Foteyne and his attractive, expressive leads. Yes, their affair is casual, sexual and without the usual "meeting cute" baggage. Actually, I thought she was the engine that began and ended the affair. Lopez's character seems to be far more emotionally involved as the affair progress than Baye's. He responds to her

responding to him and you can see him falling for her. Her speech to him about her feelings is quite startling and you think, maybe he's going to seek her

commitment.

A happy ending, though this is not one of those silly tearjerkers where you sit there embarrassed, would have been wrong and it's very satisfying. I loved this small, quiet, movie. The sex is very discreet. The dialoge is direct and thank goodness this is not a wordy movie. It doesn't need it. It's got a very good director in control of his material and two fine leads who tell you all you need to know.

I just discovered Sergi Lopez was the villain in DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. He's a terrific screen presence.

Someone mentioned CHAOS (in connection with their review of this film),

another French film I recently discovered. Two more mature, well-written, well- acted and directed films could not be imagined. Highly recommended.

The beauty of this film shocked me, and I will always remember it.

The entire situation pulled me in right away, and "she," "he," and the interviewer unraveled what turned out to be a love story. The sex between them was gorgeous, powerful, loving, and unapologetic. I love how the interviewer, no matter how he tried to siphon the details of the sex from the man and the woman, just could not ever get his "dirt," so to speak. They couldn't give him that, because it was not ABOUT that.

This is a work of art, and I am grateful to have seen it, to have felt it. -Cindy