Maria's Lovers

Nastassja Kinski evokes something in the viewer. In Maria's Lovers, she is able to transform from an adolescent sexual lolita to a captivating experienced woman. I viewed the film in a foreign language so I just examined the characters, pacing, lighting, and what I witnessed was an obscure treasure from the 1980's. Nastassja Kinski was in her prime in 1984. She was an eccentric actor to the American audience, ravishing, spell binding, odd. Maria's Lovers is beautiful and lyrical, a film that lingers in the mind, asking questions and relating to moments of lovers. A fascinating study. The directing and cinematography are graceful. I love when we see Maria for the first time. She is so captivating and yet, something else...not sure what...something cool and refreshing. A Film for the Registry.

"Maria's Lovers" is, first of all, a beautiful-looking film. Juan Ruiz Anchía does a fantastic job photographing the film, making wonderful use of light. Scene after scene is brilliantly framed and shot, at times feeling like a series of photographs. Anchía and director Andrei Konchalovsky make a great team. But this is essential to make a film such as this watchable, because the general attitude of virtually every character is endlessly frustrating. Most are motivated by sex, some by fear, some by greed, some by possessiveness, some by misguided innocence.

There are no particular flaws in any of the performances. Kinski, Savage, Mitchum and Carradine create characters of real depth. There are times when "Maria's Lovers" has the overpowering sense of being made in the mold of the great classic tragedies. Which is to say, everyone is more miserable more often than is entirely likely in real life. But I could be wrong, and perhaps there are lives which very closely parallel those shown here. Either way, it is a supremely difficult, painful, intense, and ultimately believable picture. To the right audience, it could very nearly be considered perfect. It's a clean, true, human depiction.

An excellent period piece set in post WWII small town Pennsylvania. This is an unvarnished look at working class life among the "ethnics" and sexual dysfunction. The production values are fantastic. This movie really captures what it was like then including a passing shot of a large coal burning locomotive. The interiors are drab and worn with peeling paint in some scenes. The directorial style is similar to that of Michael Cimino in The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate.

The producers probably wondered why the excellent script and performances didn't garner at least Oscar nominations. It was nominated as Best Foreign Film for the French Cesar award.

The film centers on Ivan (John Savage), a WWII P.O.W. who returns to his small hometown after the war. He survived in the P.O.W. camp by imagining a marriage and life with Maria (Nastassia Kinski), the prettiest girl he knew growing up. When he gets home, he woos and marries her, but cannot consummate the marriage. This naturally leads to dysfunction, frustration, and infidelity. Also starring Keith Carradine as a fast-talking, wandering balladeer, Robert Mitchum (with a beard) as Savage's father, Vincent Spano, Bud Cort, John Goodman, Bill Smitrovich, and Tracy Nelson.

The script is all over the place, with some scenes achieving some frank honesty and emotional truth, while others seem wildly florid and almost campily over-the-top. Savage's natural tendencies to be a bit histrionic in his performances works okay here, since his character is supposed to be a bit unbalanced and dealing with PTSD. Kinski delivers her most mature performance to date, but she's still a bit rough around the edges, and some lines come out clunky.

Carradine steals the movie, though, with an oily turn as a seedy Lothario. Mitchum just has to be gruff and drunk, which was never a problem for him. Anyone with prudish sensibilities should be forewarned that there's a lot of heavy breathing here, as well.

I haven't seen this since it came out but I still talk about it when discussing the nature of love. It deals well with an issue I believe many people can relate to: the fine line between love and hate. The whole point [I believe] of the movie is to illustrate how John Savage's inability to make love to his wife is because he loves her too purely and only once that innocent worship has been tarnished can he consummate his marriage and love his wife completely.

If you've ever wondered why your best sexual memories are of people you didn't love then this movie is for you.