Product Details

• Actors: Jeanne Moreau, Sean Young, Sam Waterston, Christopher Cazenove, Nell Carter
• Directors: Ismail Merchant
• Writers: Andrew Litvack, George W.S. Trow, Jean-Marie Besset
• Producers: Donald Rosenfeld, Humbert Balsan, Osman Eralp, Paul Bradley
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: October 21, 1997
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630438565X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,737 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Collage of Past and Present, March 19, 2000

By 

S. Antonio Arch (Toronto & Grand Cayman) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Proprietor [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In his book, The Films of Merchant Ivory, Robert Emmet Long says that The Proprietor is not a perfect film and details some of the blurring that distracts the viewer, particularly a rather quick metamorphosis by Sean Young's character.

He does however add that the film is likely to become a Moreau classic. I will agree with him, but want to add that this film seems to be such an achievement, a collaboration of so many talents, that the end product could not help but be rather wonderful.

Jeanne Moreau is pefectly cast as Adrienne Mark, the famed French-American novelist and I can quite easily see how the role was tailored around her inimitable voice and expressive face. The character seems wonderfully complete, perhaps because of the many individual talents involved in the project who seem to have done a wonderful job collaborating.

The rest of the film is equally wonderful. There is some breathtaking photography of Paris, several wonderful scenes of a French auction and a wonderful incorporation of Madeleine Castaing's apartment.

This film goes far beyond what Hollywood is capable of. It takes all of these wonderful elements and incorporates them (on a shoestring no less) into this film which is almost as much a painting, a collage perhaps, as it is a work of fiction.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars True French, March 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Proprietor [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This was a wonderful look at Paris, and the story, though disjointed at times, follows a theme of memories with ties to the present. Beautifully filmed, beautiful music, lovely costumes. Presented France and the French in a very true fashion. Worth watching if you love France as I do.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thumbs down, s'il vous plait., July 13, 2002

By 

P. A. Hogan (Providence RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Proprietor [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A perfectly awful film in the typical Merchant Ivory boring-but-stylish mode. But for the presence of the incomparable Jean Moreau and the stylish-ness of the interiors and exteriors (Madeleine Castaing's Paris apartment etc etc), it rates the two thumbs down category. As a comic relief,don't fast forward the scenes that include klutzy Sean Young (tripping about in spiked heels and mini-skirt)who in a truly forgettable scene is whisked away to the dance floor to perform a tango so clumsily executed as to cause Rudolph Valentino to turn over in his grave.Another low-point is the odious musical scene with her would-be lover played by Josh Hamilton. Then there's Nell Carter, hamming it up as the devoted servant. Did Jean-Marie Besset and George Trow, who wrote this trite, ridiculous screenplay,laugh all the way to the bank? This might be ok to watch on a lazy summer afternoon with a Campari and soda on hand. The combination will bring on a well-deserved siesta.