From Universal Pictures
Directed by Philip Kaufman
Starring
Fred Ward
Uma Thurman
Maria de Medeiros
Richard E. Grant
Kevin Spacey
We might as well open our movie biographies theme with one that captivated me when I first saw it and has again, having just watched it. It feels like it's invaded me and I now recall that at the other times I've seen it. Director Kaufman has been the complete architect of the few films he's directed... his visuals, gorgeous music, stylish editing, compelling writing and seamless acting have taken his sometimes-controversial films into new realms.
Henry & June is one of my treasured art house films. It is indeed artsy but in my opinion never so much so that it loses viewers who don't like such films although I am aware the movie has its detractors. It has the distinction, too, of looking like a painting... and usually rather subtly. I love the use of colors... the red walls, the beautiful scarves, the rural settings.
Henry is Henry Miller, the famous or infamous author of The Tropic of Cancer which was banned in the States for many years. June is his second (of five) wives. Interestingly, the title is a misnomer. It could more properly be called Henry and Anaïs. She would be Anaïs Nin, the famous diarist, essayist and novelist, who was Miller's lover throughout the 1930's in Paris. And this film is based on Henry and June: From the Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin. June actually is a secondary character.
Here's the thing that may capture your interest or earn your hiss. Both Miller and Nin wrote of erotica and they lived an erotic lifestyle away from their respective spouses. Rather than suggest all this erotica, it is quite openly shown on the screen. There is much nudity and a pretty fair amount of lusty sex, both straight and lesbian. As a result this film, too, was banned in some countries at the time of its initial release. In the States in earned the first NC17 rating ever given.
Miller had not been a published writer when the film opens in 1931 Paris. The book he is writing in the movie is indeed The Tropic of Cancer. His writing was greatly influenced by French Surrealists. He and June had been married for 10 years when they divorced in 1934. They fit snugly into French bohemian society and were desperately poor.
In 1931 the 40-year old Miller and his wife met Nin and her husband Hugh Parker Guiler, known as Hugo. Not only did Henry and Anaïs become lovers, they greatly admired and encouraged the others' writing and she would one day be responsible for getting The Tropic of Cancer published in France. The Guilers also financially supported the Millers throughout much of the 1930's.
Hugo appears nonplussed to his wife's sexual relationship with Miller and the two men get along well. June, who was often not in France, was oblivious to her husband's relationship with Nin, and flew into a rage when she found out... at least according to the film. When the dust settles, the two women become involved in a brief sexual relationship.
Damn, who says those folks in the 1930's were stuffy or old-fashioned? Perhaps in America but definitely not in Europe. I have always loved stories of expatriates and biographies of writers stock my bookshelves. How could I not have liked this film?
Fred Ward turns in a marvelous performance as Miller. He more than accomplished Miller's rough-hewn exterior and his obsession with sex. The actor shaved his head and likely worked out some to look buff for those sex scenes. I don't think I've ever seen Ward in another leading role. He got this one only at the last minute after Alec Baldwin declined.
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| Ward and de Medeiros |
Maria de Medeiros has the biggest role as Anaïs... she is rarely off screen. I am barely aware of who she is. She was apparently in Pulp Fiction, although I have no recollection. Therefore this role is all I know of her and she is indelibly Anaïs Nin to me, which I like. They are similarly looking which likely accounts for her casting. I loved her quiet demeanor, always betraying the tigress that was inside.
Uma Thurman has never managed to completely capture my attention. Her performance as June is fine but it is far overshadowed by her two costars. June apparently had mental and/or emotional issues and for a spell her life with Henry echoed fellow writer F. Scott Fitzgerald's with his wife, Zelda.
Richard E. Grant plays the rather spineless Hugo convincingly. One has to wonder about this type of cuckolded husband although he expressed undying love for Nin and their relationship was always physical.
This is an early Kevin Spacey role as one of the crowd that palled around with the writers. He has one scene where he's quite enjoying a romp in bed with 3-4 naked women. Now that's acting.
Kaufman always made an impact when his films came out and by and large they were based on challenging literary pieces and they created a stir with the public and critics alike. Just before this film he had made another favorite, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and before that the very popular The Right Stuff. He also made copy with his remake of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
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| The real Nin and Miller |
Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller remained friends the rest of their lives and still great supporters of one another's writing. Both would go on to write numerous books on June. June, rather surprisingly, went on to become a social worker in Queens. Nin and Miller would both die in California.
I saw Henry Miller once at the Santa Monica newspaper office where I worked. I didn't know who he was at the time and when I saw him from across an editorial room, someone simply said that's the guy who wrote Tropic of Cancer. I remember him as an old, bald guy and to this day it's hard to reconcile that he was once that horny dude who re-imagined his sexual escapades in writing.
Next posting:
The King of the Cowboys
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