Presented in documentary style through two separate interviews with a woman (Nathalie Baye) and a man (Sergei Lopez) who once shared a love affair, AN AFFAIR OF LOVE is the fictional story of the couple's sex-driven relationship. The woman and the man each confess to the interviewer that they found each other through a newspaper advertisement, then met once a week for a period of months. Each rendez-vous was in a hotel, and the two remained completely anonymous, acting out their sexual desires upon each other without even exchanging names. An erotic tale with steamy footage, this French fantasy film promises to please.

Billed in its native Belgium as UNE LIAISON PORNOGRAPHIQUE (an appropriately matter-of-fact title, but misleading), AN AFFAIR OF LOVE is a he-said, she-said tale of an encounter between two Parisians who meet for the sole purpose of living out a shared sexual fantasy but soon find their attraction runs beyond kink. The two anonymous characters--known to each other and the audience only as "her" and "him"--are introduced talking separately to an off-camera interviewer, who poses probing questions about the nature of their relationship; the film then unfolds as a narrative, shifting constantly back to their post-relationship examinations. The real story, it turns out, lies somewhere between what actually happened and how it is remembered.

Dissecting the gap between sex and romance, AN AFFAIR OF LOVE plays its cards close to the chest in revealing its characters, even while their confessions bring a deeper dimension to the story seen on-screen. Director Frederic Fonteyne understatedly plays with voyeurism and self-confession--touchstones of late-'90s media--and his intimate but unintrusive style adds to the tension. The actors (Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez) deliver polished performances, and although the film's narrow focus renders them almost as symbolic figures, the details keep them grounded in a more plausible reality.

Theatrical Release: August 11, 2000

Nathalie Baye received Best Actress honors at the European Film Awards and the Venice Film Festival.

The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Pan & Scan - 1.33
Single Side - Single Layer
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
Additional Release Material:
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical
DVD-ROM Features:
Web Link

Nathalie Baye: French Actress
Sergi Lopez: Actor
Paul Pavel: 
Sylvie van den Elsen: Actress, AN AFFAIR OF LOVE

Frederic Fonteyne: AN AFFAIR OF LOVE

Patrick Quinet: AN AFFAIR OF LOVE

Philippe Blasband: AN AFFAIR OF LOVE, MAX ET BOBO

Jeannot Sanavia: AN AFFAIR OF LOVE

Chantal Hymans: AN AFFAIR OF LOVE

"...Fonteyne edges closer than most to capturing the mysterious rhythms of liaisons..." -- Rating: A-
"...A film as romantic as its title....AN AFFAIR OF LOVE is truly adult, straight to the finish..."
"....A movie about love and sex that is wiser and more useful than the adolescent fantasies enacted by adults in Hollywood pictures..."