I just confused about how their affair begins.
they've just see each other in a gathering, and Anna introduces herself to Stephen (and no more talk);
once again they see each other in Stephen's house (when Martin took her to show her to his family) and again not a special conversation;
and then she calls him to have sex?!
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I agree. I would have thought there would be some furtive smiles, longing glances something to indicate the heat and the passion they felt. I also thought the sex was strange. During their first encounter, she just goes limp, as though she were playing dead and there were several times when I thought he might strangle her they way he grabbed her neck.
I can't say I really liked the film but it was interesting.
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If you have ever experienced an all-consuming and passionate love at first sight, then no explanation is necessary.
If you have never experienced it, then no explanation will suffice.
Wow... incredibly profound and summed up so very simply. Thanks.
shareThank you but I can't take full credit. There is a similar saying associated with religious faith and the concept of "miracles" (i.e. if you have faith, no explanation is necessary . . . ). So I adapted it for romantic love, since that is a kind of religion too (for women only, if Nietzsche is to be believed).
I remembered the phrase from the old TV program 'Unsolved Mysteries,' but it also appears at the beginning of 'Song of Bernadette,' which is about the Virgin of Lourdes. And it struck me that Stephen's devotion to Anna at the end has something of that "Virgin Mary obsession" for which Catholicism is noted. Not that this is a bad thing at all.
People, people, people - who cares how it starts. I was just happy to see Jeremy Irons butt naked!
If you ever believe in love at first sight then you'll understand the affair. If not, then it's not my problem.
Everything I do, I do for myself. Everything you do, you do for me.
I agree with the previous comment. Unless you experienced it (I did), it's hard to explain. It's like an instant connection, no words needed, you just know it and the other person knows it too, you both know it. There's something tragic about this.
shareSomething tragic about this-- yes, that's well-put.
I felt that the acting in these early scenes (well, throughout the movie, actually) was superb. The subtle eye movements said it all. Anything more would have been crass. Because it ultimately wasn't about just the sexual attraction. There was some kind of deep connecting that only they understood.
Also, the sex scenes were well-acted, IMO, precisely *because* both of them responded so strangely, so uniquely maybe, as if neither of them had ever experienced anything like this before. I thought that the director was possibly trying to estrange us from them even while drawing us closer to them.
I thought it a rather amazing movie.
I agree that the acting was superb. Initially I was wondering how and why they first hooked up, but once I saw eyes (as well as at the rest of their bodies), I didn't need the back-story. The acting in this film was nothing short of breathtaking.
shareSeptimus, I liked the way you put it best.
I think they were both already Damaged (no pun intended) and looking for something out of the ordinary.
Irons' character seemed, bored and slightly unsatisfied with his hum drum life. While Binoche's character was a free spirit still coming to terms with tragedies of her past.
I think if you read the book, it all makes much more sense.
well have u experienced an " all-consuming and passionate love at first sight|" ???
shareI haven't but I can imagine it.
shareI just think Anna planned this before she met Stephen, that's why she met his son in the first place. She is a so called femme fatale. Stephen as mentioned just got obsessed with her right away.
shareIT'S JEREMY IRONS!!
Academy Awards = the Creme de la Creme of Bull Sh*t
Whoever thinks this is love at first sight has never been in love at first sight. This is Lust at first sight. Love had nothing to do with those two. And not for one second did I think it was a romance going on. I also believe she set this up from the beginning. Love is not obsession. If folks think that they have a very messed up view of love. The woman was a nut case and he was too. Oh I forgot. Did you hear her talking about her childhood? I think she might have harbored some resentment against a steady family life and that is why she targeted the father. Notice she only started this after she met the whole family in a family situation. I think she was crazy. And he was just a old coot chasing after his sons girlfriend who obviously has some serious mental problems
shareI would beg to disagree. If it were lust at first sight then the character Stephen (unnamed in the book) would never have continued at the cost of ruining his family and reputation. Also, the scene where he sits alone in his room with a blow-up picture of Anna is hardly lust and the whole mechanics of love affirm its being obsessive and crazy.
shareI just confused about how their affair begins.
they've just see each other in a gathering, and Anna introduces herself to Stephen (and no more talk);
once again they see each other in Stephen's house (when Martin took her to show her to his family) and again not a special conversation;
and then she calls him to have sex?!
The relationship between their characters seems unlikely -- Anna doesn't come across as the kind of woman to drive a man to obsession -- and the supposedly "erotic" sex scenes aren't that steamy. One of the problems with the pairing of Anna and Stephen is that their introduction to each other is mishandled. The long, lingering look that they exchange doesn't ignite sparks. There's no heat in it. And because that moment doesn't work, the rapid development of the affair feels contrived.
There's a masochistic quality to Anna and I took the way they 'met' to be an unconscious knowing/recognition of something within the other as the attraction. The quality of the sex was cold and unloving because neither really sees the other as anything other than an erotic object.
my vessel is magnificent and large and huge-ishshare
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Miranda RIchardson had been in a torrid affair with me for over a year and went to pieces when I called it off. She got Jeremy Irons on the rebound.
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