Anaïs Nin (Maria de Madeiros) is living in Paris with her husband, Hugo (Richard E. Grant), when she is introduced to American writer Henry Miller (Fred Ward). She and Miller have a torrid affair, exacerbated by Nin's attraction/obsession with Miller's wife, June (Uma Thurman).
That's it. That's the plot. I was trying to think of anything else the movie is about and I'm coming up completely blank.
There is a lot of sex in this movie, but none of it is really explicit. I don't know why it got an NC-17 rating as opposed to just a hard R unless it's because of the LGBTQ angle. Or maybe the naked contortionists. Whatever.
In between all the sex scenes, there are musings on what it means to be an artist, a writer, accepting criticism, translating feelings into words, and the sheer impossibility of truly capturing someone else's personality or spark. Medeiros plays Nin with a wide-eyed doe-like quality, an enduring naïveté contrasting sharply with Ward's growly bluster. Thurman vamps it up like a 40s noir, alternating hot and cold with both main characters. She is easily a scene-stealer but her accent kept throwing me.
This is not available on any streaming service (probably because of the rating) and I don't know that I'd necessarily recommend tracking it down on disc unless you have a burning interest in Nin, Miller, or Weimar-era period flicks.
No comments:
Post a Comment