She was lost from the moment she saw him.
In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.
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Character
Prestige, grave, contemplative and character-led.
- unpretentiousprestige
- gravecomic
- contemplativerelentless
- character-ledplot-driven
- classical in formformally daring
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Jan 20257/10
Usually if there are two separate timelines featured in a story, the director tries to ensure that we cannot readily distinguish between one that might be true and one that might be artificial. It's the complete opposite that really works well here as we mingle the story of an 18th century woman living within the constraints of high Victorian society with a more profligate 1970s one. To fit out the earlier scenario, we meet the shy "Sarah" (Meryl Streep) who is rebounding from a liaison with the titular French lieutenant by having an even less suitable assignation with the altogether more decent "Charles" (Jeremy Irons). The modern day scenario has the same two actors playing "Anna" and "Mike", only both are married to others and they are the "real" life actors portraying these other characters in a film of their lives. Now we get to experience the story of both relationships undulating in parallel. It sounds way more complex than it actually is as a combination of Harold Pinter's adaptation of the original novel and the acting from both Streep and Irons manages to convince us that though we are seeing two separate stories play out before us, they have remarkable similarities in th
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Cast
- Meryl StreepSarah / Anna
- Jeremy IronsCharles Henry Smithson / Mike
- Hilton McRaeSam
- Lynsey BaxterErnestina
- Emily MorganMary
- Penelope WiltonSonia
- Jean FauldsCook
- Charlotte MitchellMrs. Tranter
- Peter VaughanMr. Freeman
- Colin JeavonsVicar
Crew
- Karel ReiszDirector
- Harold PinterScreenplay
- John FowlesNovel
- Freddie FrancisDirector of Photography
- Carl DavisOriginal Music Composer
- John BloomEditor
- Leon CloreProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
The Company of Wolves 198485% alikeBoth grave, contemplative, character-led.
Happy as Lazzaro 201878% alikeBoth prestige, contemplative, grave.
The Virgin Suicides 200077% alikeBoth prestige, contemplative.
This Must Be the Place 201177% alikeBoth prestige, contemplative.
Dead Man 199576% alikeBoth prestige, grave, contemplative.
The Tales of Hoffmann 195175% alikeBoth contemplative, grave, prestige.
The Souvenir: Part II 202175% alikeBoth prestige, grave, contemplative.
Both contemplative.
Kentucky Route Zero 201376% alikeGame · Both contemplative, prestige, grave.
Sunset 201575% alikeGame · Both contemplative.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
