Based on Marguerite Duras’ semi-autobiographical novel, The Lover is a lush, melancholic period drama set in 1929 French Indochina. A young, impoverished French girl (Jane March, 17 at release) begins a clandestine, sexually charged affair with a wealthy older Chinese man (Tony Leung Ka-fai). What could have been pure exploitation is instead a slow, dreamlike meditation on colonialism, shame, money, and first desire. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud bathes every frame in amber and teal — humid, oppressive, beautiful. Leung is heartbreaking as the powerless rich man; March is hauntingly vulnerable. The famous scene with the car’s tinted windows remains iconic.