Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3750 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-02-23
• Rating: NC-17
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 137 minutes

Amazon.com
Anaïs Nin (Maria de Medeiros) is a young woman in 1930s Paris whose husband is slowly defecting from art to working in a bank, leaving her very bored. When the then-unpublished Brooklyn writer Henry Miller (Fred Ward) enters her life, she embarks on a journey of seduction and sexual exploration that eventually leads from the writer to his wife, June (Uma Thurman), who finances her husband's life in Paris so he may praise her beauty in his writing. Unhappy with her husband's writing and her lovers' affair, June enters a jealous rage, forcing Henry into suffering-artist mode and Nin back to her husband. Despite having one of the more erotic scenes of the 1990s, between Nin and June, the film does not live up to its subject, largely due to a mediocre screenplay and flawed direction. The strength of the original material and Medeiros's decidedly unflawed performance, however, make it worth viewing. --James McGrath

Customer Reviews

Splendid Work of Art
Henry and June is the tale of colleagues who become lovers, yet remained married to others. This movie is sensual, sensational, stimulating, sexy, smart. It tells a story about how passion can overcome those who work together and admire their minds as well as their bodies. Aspects of infidelity as being not such a horrible sin, of love between women as natural, and of jealousy are treated realistically. There are plots and subplots intertwined. The characters are well developed. Also, the filmography is unusual and beautiful

Women who believe playing heads games by being
mysterious in the belief that it makes them "creative" will like this film. As will those who don't (yet) see through Nin's phoniness.

When Nin was having an affair with Otto Rank, she took a trip to the US. As a going away gift, Rank gave her a dress. When she returned he noticed a hole in the dress, cut with scissors. She told him she'd spilled wine on it aboard ship. Actually, what she cut out was a semen stain.

It's easy to be "mysterious" if one is a serial liar.

Other than that, the autobiography, the descriptions of the others in Nin's life at that time (her then-husband being conveniently passive), are interesting a few times through. But Nin's narcissism, head-games, and deceits are quickly more than one can tolerate.

Two stars: one because the film is in color. The other because it has actors/acresses in it. I would have given it a third star because it had words in it, but those were written by Nin, so haven't any particular distinction or value as concerns imparting any substantial truths.

Interesting movie, regular edition
I purchased this because the R2 european edition doesn't have spanish subtitles. Both editions have regular-to-bad video and audio trasfers, what is quite disappointing because this movie's cinematography is lovely.

Seldom [wrongly] clasified as soft erotic, the movie itself is quite appealing, specially for those interested in Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller figures and artists life in Paris at late 20s.