The Lover (1992)
By James Bontemps
The Lover is a 1992 erotic romantic drama film produced by Claude Berri and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Based on the semi-autobiographical 1984 novel of the same name by Marguerite Duras.
The film details the illicit affair between a teenage French girl (Jane March) and a wealthy Chinese man (Tony Leung Ka-fai) in 1929 French Indochina.
Most of the film was shot on location in Vietnam with the exception of the sex scenes, which were all filmed in Paris, as Vietnam officials forbade them to be filmed on location.
Jane March was 17 at the time of filming and Tony was twice her age at 34.