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Swann in Love

Play trailer Poster for Swann in Love R 1984 1h 50m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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56% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In 19th-century Paris, Charles Swann (Jeremy Irons) risks his social standing in his obsessive pursuit of prostitute Odette (Ornella Muti). His overwhelming desire for her comes, in part, from Odette's complete disinterest in him. When he finally weds her, utterly compromising himself in high society, he finds to his horror that his love for her was a complete illusion. At the same time, the Baron de Charlus (Alain Delon) pursues his own ill-advised romance.

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 06/26/2008
Volker Schlondorff's film is not sacrilege -- merely a disappointment. Go to Full Review
Chris Peachment Time Out 06/24/2006
Schlöndorff shows an uncharacteristic visual organisation; and the clever notion of collapsing the thing into just one day in the life of Swann is vindicated by an elegiac coda which casts a suitable Proustian net over the whole enterprise. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 10/23/2004
3/4
Swann in Love is a stylish, period love story, surrounding its central characters with still other pathetic seekers of perfection. Go to Full Review
Quentin Crisp Christopher Street 05/06/2024
The other strong asset of this movie is the acting... At the beginning of this century, the upper classes seem to have behaved with extreme formality and complete casualness at the same time. The film captures this strange mixture perfectly. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/04/2005
3/5
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Audience Reviews

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Richard D Oct 6 Loved it. Loved that it touched on things that touched me in my reading. In a way the film "vindicated" my understanding that I had of the novel. See more 01/27/2022 This is a story about love. To fall in love. To fall in love with someone one doesn't like. A high society man falls in love with a woman who was a bad reputation. The dynamic of their love is complicated not only by the social differences but also by hesitation. This hesitation, hot and coldness of their relationship, is truly annoying at times. One it's not fully elucidated. Two, it's repetitive and dull. Overall, the movie starts at a fairly good place, and it's fairly rich in events. But later gets dull and repetitive, and eventually ends somewhat abruptly. The end is a bit amateurish. The highlight of the movie: Proust's writing about love, life and death. See more @MilloTPue 05/12/2020 After 30 minutes, erotism and cinematography are great, but story has not much interest. See more 01/14/2018 Un amor de Swann [1984] See more 03/10/2017 There could never be a full film treatment of Proust's masterpiece, but this film treatment of one small part of it is brilliant. It is without a doubt one of the best films I have ever screened. Irons was brilliant as Charles Swann. I cannot imagine anyone else who could have played the part better. Muti was perfect as Odette, and Alain Delon was Charlus incarnate. If you love Proust, you really owe it to yourself to screen this film. The sets, costumes, and outside shots were brilliant, too. I think it is a classic film that is very underrated and deserves a lot more critical attention. Five BIG Stars!!! See more 09/07/2015 good story of a family See more Read all reviews
Swann in Love

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Movie Info

Synopsis In 19th-century Paris, Charles Swann (Jeremy Irons) risks his social standing in his obsessive pursuit of prostitute Odette (Ornella Muti). His overwhelming desire for her comes, in part, from Odette's complete disinterest in him. When he finally weds her, utterly compromising himself in high society, he finds to his horror that his love for her was a complete illusion. At the same time, the Baron de Charlus (Alain Delon) pursues his own ill-advised romance.
Director
Volker Schlöndorff
Producer
Eberhard Junkersdorf, Martin Wiebel
Screenwriter
Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carrière, Marie-Hélène Estienne, Volker Schlöndorff
Production Co
Gaumont, Bioskop Film
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (DVD)
Aug 10, 2005
Runtime
1h 50m