Customer Reviews

Amour de Femme

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After a 12 year dry spell, I finally found an lesbian movie that I could REALLY ENJOY!!! (This hasn't happened since, "When Night is Falling.")

Amour de Femme (Love of Women) is about a Parisian women named Jeanne who seems to have it all, namely she is good looking, has a fabulous looking husband, an adorable and loving kid, and a very successful career as an osteopath. The actress who plays Jeanne (the lead character) looks like an amalgamation of Sean Young, Phoebe Cates, Teri Hatcher (brown hair and eyes) and has the amazing ability to appear very different (facial wise) in every shot she's in. I've never seen an actress that has the ability to look different in every shot. The actress who plays Jeanne is about 6 ft. tall and lanky (I LOVE TALL WOMEN! <G>)

The film begins with Jeanne and her hubby David attending a birthday party at a bar in Paris. As soon as they walk in, David quickly abandons his wife to hang out with his buddies, leaving Jeanne to fend for herself. She looks alone and uncomfortable in the packed room and the viewer gets the impression that Jeanne being ditched by her husband is a very common occurrence. However, what next happens will change Jeanne's life forever. As the party progresses, a short female dancer comes out onto a well lighted stage in the bar and starts dancing very provocatively for the audience. She has been hired to entertain the birthday boy and very quickly strips off most of her clothing (besides a fancy bra and panties.) In the meantime, Jeanne is watching the dancer avidly from the shadows - a first with a blank face and moments later a smile appears on her face ... After the show, we see Jeanne aimlessly walking by herself through a crowd of people, looking bored and lonely. When she walks through a festooned entryway of the bar, she immediately feels someone behind her, startling her. She quickly turns around and she sees it's the dancer. From that point on (about 3 minutes into the film) to the end of the movie, Jeanne and Marie can't take their eyes off each other and form a mutual admiration society. The looks shared between these two women are so intense and erotic, that the nap hairs on my neck stand up every time I watch this movie. Jeanne sees Marie as the embodiment of passion, energy, and freedom and we are along for the ride as she explores her new found passion for a Marie. This is one of the first lesbian movies where I've seen desire, tenderness, and caring overtly demonstrated between two women over the course of the entire movie. I also thought that the dialogue in this movie was realistic, romantic, and compelling.

HOWEVER, I want to add that I DO NOT think Amour de Femme is a perfect movie, because it isn't. The music soundtrack of this movie is supremely annoying, distracting, very loud and inappropriate (like a previous reviewer said, it sounds like a soundtrack from a porno movie), especially at the expense of hearing the dialogue between the characters (thank God for subtitles!!) It also cheapens the intense scenes of emotion between the two women. In addition, both the women in this film smoke, and you can tell they both do this in real life by their grayish teeth. I guess they never heard of teeth whitening in France. (I'm picky I know - so sue me!) Additionally, some of the camera work in the film is very mediocre. I was repeatedly distracted when the camera went for a close up shot of an actor when the camera should have panned back so the audience could see both the emotional reactions of the women. There are also several scenes where the viewer can only see a chin or mouth of one of the actresses, and the full face of the other, leaving the reaction of the other actress a complete mystery. I also think the actress who plays Jeanne is MUCH better looking and a MUCH better actor than the female who plays Marie. I dearly wish they would have chosen a better looking and acting actress for her part, instead of one who smirks through most of her scenes. Be that as it may, if you are looking for a romantic LESBIAN film, with realistic dialogue, scenes of intense, tender and erotic emotion, and one short love scene, this film is for you. Despite my criticisms, I really enjoyed this film and it's a definite keeper.

"Amour de Femme" is one of those rare movies that are moody, subtle, and yet powerful all at the same time. A French film with English subtitles, "Amour de Femme" tells the story of Jeanne, a 35-year-old masseuse living in Paris, who has spent her entire life making other people feel better. Attending a party with David, her husband of seven years, Jeanne instantly connects with Marie, a dancer performing at the party. They spend the evening conversing about their love of dance, something Jeanne used to do, but has given up as her life took a different turn. Vowing to begin dancing again, Jeanne decides to take one of Marie's classes, and rediscovers not only the passion that's been missing from her life, but that she has feelings for this mesmerizing woman.

Although Jeanne's past is never explained, one gets the sense of a life of quiet desperation. Jeanne seems to be happy on the surface, but dig a little deeper and one finds a woman whose passion for life has fizzled out. She goes through the motions, living each day as she is expected--dutiful wife to David, loving mother to young Louis--until she meets Marie. Intrigued by the vitality of this woman, Jeanne undergoes a transformation that, at first, she finds confusing and frightening. Marie makes no secret of her attraction to women--and to Jeanne--and Jeanne, while drawn to her, struggles with conflicting emotions, eventually running back home to the safety of the known.

The distance between Jeanne and her husband continues to grow, and Jeanne finds herself thinking of Marie more and more; the quiet desperation invading her every waking moment. She again finds herself at Marie's class, this time taking her up on an offer for dinner. They go to Marie's apartment where she begins to prepare dinner for the two, when Jeanne boldly decides to ask Marie to kiss her. The tender kiss in turn leads to a night of lovemaking between the two. They continue having clandestine rendezvous for several weeks, and one can see the joy growing in Jeanne's life at her newfound feelings.

It's only a matter of time before Jeanne finds herself in love with Marie, torn between the life she had and the one she is creating with Marie. The ensuing drama that occurs between Jeanne and David as she takes steps that will radically change her life, are intense and passionate. During the next few scenes, we see an entirely different Jeanne as she makes up her mind, finds herself, and makes decisions that will change her life forever.

"Amour de Femme" stars Helene Fillieres as Jeanne. At first, I thought the actress portraying Marie was very short, but further investigation revealed that Fillieres is actually six-feet tall! She reminds me of a young Gia Carangi in many shots, having that androgynous beauty about her. Fillieres, as Jeanne, is a formidable screen presence: her stormy beauty simultaneously suggesting the terror with which she at first cowers from love's promise, then lunges at it hungrily, epitomizing Jeanne's greatest question in life: who is this woman that I am becoming?

Raffaela Anderson portrayal of Marie is the very picture of courageous self-determination, whether romancing Jeanne in quiet conversation, or wildly dancing with a commanding ferocity.

I found "Amour de Femme" to be highly reminiscent of another favorite movie of mine, "When Night is Falling." Both of these movies tend toward subtlety and imagery to tell their stories instead of hand-holding the viewer with endless dialogue and background explanations. If you like your movies spelled out in great detail, you probably won't like "Amour de Femme" or "When Night is Falling." "Amour de Femme" is the kind of movie that you think about, watch again, and enjoy even more the second time around as you capture the nuance of the wonderful performance.

One thing to remember when watching this film is that it is a foreign film and not necessarily up to Hollywood cinematic standards. The musical soundtrack leaves quite a bit to be desired, bordering on tastelessly pornographic, and the coloring of the movie tends toward dark and moody.

Nevertheless, if you can get past the technical inadequacies of the film, you will find yourself immersed in a beautiful, moving love story about the "love of women." "Amour de Femme" is a movie to be remembered.

In a nutshell: Beautiful Jeanne (that's her face you see on the box cover) is smitten by a younger, much shorter, and racially-mixed dancer named Marie. The two women have a love affair, much to the dismay of Jeanne's husband David.

There's not much in the way of sex scenes (or even nudity) in this film, but what's there is very well done and very erotically charged. The casting and production values are all excellent, but if you're looking for explicit sexual encounters involving women-with-women you'll be disappointed.

I liked this one, but I'd probably have enjoyed an NC-17 version of this film even more.

It's really hard to find a good lesbian movie out there, and i was sure that this movie would fall into the typical movie where they fall in love but then society breaks them apart, but Amour de Femme was much more creative than that. It deals with real world issues of love and devotion as well as showing the conflictive side of an affair, especially when society forbids it. I thought the music wasn't as annoying as everyone says it is because the dialogue and acting is so provacative and well thought out, that the music is not even imortant. I would def recommend this, i have watched it 3 times and it still feels like the first time. see it!

This film is very nice to watch. The characters and story are interesting. They do a good job a building up tension between the two main characters which is lacking in most films today. The movie has a good sense of humor. It's French so it can be a little long for some and every once in a while this bad porn music is used which is actually pretty funny. This is a likable movie with cute women.

Jeanne is a beautiful osteopath, married to a handsome, macho man and has a gorgeous 7 year old child. It seems she has it made.
Then, one day at a birthday party, her world is turned upside down when she meets a beautiful professional dancer Marie, with whom she feels an immediate attraction and bond.
The film is well made and well cast. i think i could identify with some of the struggles that Jeanne had. What is this attraction i feel? Is it sexual? Does that make me a lesbian? Am i bisexual? Am i just going through the motions of a happy marriage? Am i going crazy?
It's hard to comment if the ending was realistic or truly happy. But i found myself rooting for the 2 women.

AMOUR DE FEMME is a well-produced film that deals with the trials and agonies facing women who come out as lesbians. It is quiet, subtle, beautifully photographed, and is fortunate to have a fine, handsome cast directed with sensitivity by Sylvie Verheyde who also wrote the simple but elegant screenplay.

Made in 2001 AMOUR DE FEMME came to the screen before the popular US television series THE L WORD, a program that has provided a healthier look at same sex relationships between women, and though there have been successful mainstream lesbian films, this particular one avoids some of the pitfalls that have prevented wide public acceptance of the others. The writer/director does not surround her two main characters with the usual bar scenes and peripheral characters that can distract from the story of a sexual discovery, but instead keeps the story tight with a small cast each of whom makes an impact on the story.

Jeanne (Hélène Fillières) is a successful osteopath/wife/mother who happens to reluctantly accompany her handsome husband David (Anthony Delon) to a birthday party for his best friend Franck (Jeannick Gravelines) and there she encounters Marie (Raffaëla Anderson), a dancer, and a chemistry develops resulting in an evening Jeanne enjoys very much. Slowly Jeanne and Marie begin meeting very openly, Jeanne is honest with David about her comings and goings, but when the two women's relationship becomes physical, Jeanne is faced with decisions about her sexuality. David confronts Jeanne about Marie, Jeanne confides her shaky mental and physical state, and when David eventually confronts Jeanne in a telling way, Jeanne understands her true self and despite her deep love for her small child, realizes she must follow her heart.

The cinematography both in Paris and in Normandy, where Jeanne and Marie with Marie's younger brother Moïse (Thierno Sy) have spent refreshing moments together, is stunning. Both of the actresses are not only beautiful but also talented and yield a credible attraction and passion. The entire cast is superb. The one distracting element in the film is the sound track: there is a rumbling pedal point noise that accompanies almost every scene between Jeanne and Marie and is annoyingly distracting. In French with English subtitles. The DVD is very fine in execution, but there are not extras except for some video trailers. A comment from the talented writer/director would have enhanced the release. Recommended. Grady Harp, March 06

This film shows accurate emotions at just the right times through-out the film. The viewer witnesses a married woman fall in love with another woman for the first time. Upon their first meeting, Jeanne knows instinctively there is a mutual attraction between her and a dancer she meets at birthday party. Jeanne displays girlish excitment as she begins to discover a part of herself she didn't know was there. She is drawn to Marie.( the dancer) She doesn't have it all sorted out in the beginning. She's curious, not frightened by her feelings. The lie she tells herself is she can handle this new feeling. She doesn't see the danger around the corner. Jeanne uses the dance lessons as an excuse to spend time with Marie. As the relationship deepens, Jeanne becomes trapped between two separate worlds. Choosing Marie will cost her the marriage, raising her child & life as she has known it in a traditional home. There's a part of Jeanne that wants things as they are. She loves her husband. It is not a passionate love but a contented love. She has a history & a child with him. Life is simple. Not exciting but good in it's own way.

Her content, married life begins to crumble as her desires for Marie continues to grow. When she's reading to her son, she reads the same line three times. We see the preoccupation of Marie in full swing. The marriage & even the love for her son is not strong enought to pull her away from Marie. Jeanne is falling in love with someone who instantly knows her better than the man she spent 8 years with. It's impossible for Jeanne to keep her mind off Marie. As the story unfolds, Jeanne's facial expressions are often joy & confusion at once. When a married woman falls for another woman, there's a part of her that does not want to say goodbye to her old life. This movie does an accurate job of reflecting this conflict.

The actress who played Marie is strong but not aggressive. Marie's subtle strenth is part of the attraction. Marie is tough yet still a woman; soft and feminine. The mutual attraction was believable. My only criticism of this film is with the technical aspects. The music was not appropriate. Too harsh. Not romantic. The scenes were a bit choppy. The lighting was bad at times. The love scene was not long enough. The height difference was a bit distracting. Jeanne is 6'. Marie is 5'3". The director could have used camera angles to help with this. These minor distractions fade away as we watch the two women fall in love. To sum it up, this movie is about Passion. Passion is the catalyst for Jeanne's transformation.

I really liked this story. The situation of being woman, having a family where everything seems to be all right, your son is wonderful, and then get a crash with a very energetic dance teacher, is something makes you think, and face a new and strange but fascinating world. I could see really a love story pictured in these movie. You just give everything and then try to survive, there is always a way. The love scenes are very charming and sexy. And at the end I liked conclusion of having to face a decision. That's a mature situation, and tell us that keeping our lives under the cover of a lie doesn't pay. I recommend the film!!!

The story is well done, beautifully portrayed by the 2 leading actresses. I loved the background music, and I thought it added to the sensuality of the film. I could not keep my eyes away from the 2 actresses, one for her sheer beauty, and the other for enigmatic and playful presence. Just beautiful.