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When
June leaves Paris to return to New York to pursue her
acting career, Anais is bereft—and then turns to Henry. They,
too, speak to each other in melodramatic phrases, declaring
their love for each other as they have sex beneath bridges,
behind screens, in public.
But
in comparison to the erotic charge between Anais and June, the
relationship between Anais and Henry seems dull and unfulfilling.
I
was left waiting for June to return,
bored by Anais’s affair with Henry because I couldn’t understand
how she could be drawn to him after knowing June. But when June
at last returns, Anais has been changed by her relationship
with Henry, and though June and Anais quickly rediscover their
passion for one another, it is thrown into turmoil when Anais
accidentally reveals her affair with Henry.
When
Henry and June was released in 1990,
it was the first film to carry an NC-17 rating. Watching it
now, 15 years later, the rating seems bizarre. Though the film
is certainly erotic, none of the scenes are explicit—indeed,
in most of the love scenes the actors are fully clothed or in
such shadow that it’s difficult to see much of anything.
It
may be that the NC-17 rating was attached primarily because
of the relationship between Anais and June, which certainly
was more heated than any other lesbian relationship on film
at the time. Unfortunately, though the two women are clearly
drawn to each other, it is the heterosexual relationships that
are primary in the film.
Maria
de Madeiros’ performance as Nin seems to consist mostly of making
use of her huge dark eyes and tiny chin to project an aura of
purity and innocence; at times her breathy voice and French
accent can be overly artful. Fred Ward plays the part of Henry
Miller with gusto, but both he and the character of Nin’s husband,
who seems mostly like a wet blanket, are overshadowed by Uma
Thurman’s performance as June.
It
is Thurman, with her tall strength combined with emotional weakness,
who truly steals the show.
Watch
this film for her, because when June is with Anais, Anais seems
like she might finally break out of the strange, naïve shell
she dresses herself in, and discover at last what it’s like
to feel real passion.
Get
Henry and June on DVD
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