The closest cinematic equivalent to the furor generated over D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, the film caused a storm of protest at the Venice Film Festival when it debuted in September; while previous films had discreetly faded to black before a torrid lovemaking scene, this one spent much of its infamous fifth reel focusing on the rapturous experiences of married Jeanne (Moreau) with her illicit new lover, Bernard (Jean-Marc Bory), a younger archaeologist who shakes up her complacent bourgeois life. This event marks the dramatic culmination of the film's study of her circumstances involving a neglectful husband, Henri (Alain Cuny), and a halfhearted fling with Raoul (José Luis de Villalonga), into whose arms she was nudged by a society friend, Maggy (Judith Magre).
The controversy after that first screening continued to mount in France, where the film was both widely praised and condemned, but the real firestorm happened in America when an Ohio theater exhibitor was prosecuted for obscenity. The resulting court case, Jacobellis v. Ohio, reversed the conviction and begat the famous quote from Justice Potter Stewart about the definition of pornography: "I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." Nearly six years later in 1964, the film was permitted to be shown uncensored in America (at least in most states) with distributor Zenith International taking out ads trumpeting the legal victory.
It's fair to say that no one would find The Lovers even remotely close to obscene today, but what remains vital and potent is Moreau's performance. Still busy acting today, the actress established a new standard of screen beauty with her unconventional appearance and often deglamorized roles; this intellectual sensuality would become a standard in the 1960s as she headlined a slew of films including Jules and Jim (1962), Diary of a Chambermaid (1964), The Train (1964), and The Bride Wore Black (1968). She and Malle (with whom she was also romantically involved for a brief period) would reunite again in 1965 for the comedy Viva Maria!, which cast her with France's other major female star of the era, Brigitte Bardot.
Malle was only 25 years old when he shot this, his second feature film, and his bourgeois background as the heir to an industrialist sugar empire made him something of an odd man out among his peers at the time. Nevertheless he drew admiration from both critics and fellow filmmakers due to his daring and unpredictability, such as following up this film with the audacious, knockabout comedy Zazie dans le metro in 1960. He alternated between European and American productions for much of his career starting in the 1970s, resulting in a wildly diverse body of work including Murmur of the Heart (1971), Lacombe, Lucien (1974), Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic City, My Dinner with Andre (both 1981), and Au revoir, les enfants (1987).
The third major player in The Lovers is mentioned less frequently but certainly deserves singling out: cinematographer Henri Decaë, whose exacting Dyaliscope compositions in atmospheric black and white make the most of Moreau's captivating presence. Also a veteran of Elevator to the Gallows, he cut his teeth on the early films of Jean-Pierre Melville and Claude Chabrol and would soon become the French New Wave's secret weapon on such films as The 400 Blows (1959), Sundays and Cybele (1962), and Le Samurai (1967). Though his inevitable journey to Hollywood wasn't as rewarding, his work in France remains a towering achievement and, in the case of this film, a perfect showcase for one of the country's most enduring stars.
By Nathaniel Thompson
