The Lover

Une impressionnante relation entre deux hommes et une femme, dont ils se disputaient les faveurs aussi bien de son vivant que après sa mort. Un combat d'amour mortelle, superbement joué, à la fois ouvert et caché, tour à tour en faveur de l'amant, tour à tour en faveur du mari, qui mène à une douloureuse vérité dont aucun des deux n'est épargné. Il vaut vraiment mieux laisser les morts dormir en paix... (09/04/2012)

One rarely sees such an unsentimental yet hopelessly sad film full of anger and bitterness. The loss of a loved one usually hurts. The loss of illusions hurts twice as much. The existing certainties crumble, and the specter of a rival enters the widower's life, a rival against whom victory is impossible and who forces the protagonist to reconsider his view of his previous partnership. The illusion of a functional bourgeois family becomes a strange triangle, missing one side. When there is no escape from the hopeless reality of life into a world of comforting memories, the future loses its meaning as well. The Lover is an intimate psychological drama that works exceptionally well, relying on very little - just two outstanding actors and the grungy reality of a Russian metropolis full of neglected apartment buildings with decaying interiors. Overall impression: 90%. (06/02/2015)