Henry & June

Henry & June is a 1990 film. It was directed by Philip Kaufman and stars Fred Ward, Maria de Medeiros, and Uma Thurman. It is based on the book Henry and June by the French author Anaïs Nin (or "Anais"). It tells a tale of Nin's relationship with Henry Miller and his wife, June.

Plot
The story takes place in and around Paris, France in 1931. The story told is one of a love triangle between the Millers and Anaïs Nin (de Medeiros) ["ana-eese"]. She is in a stable relationship with her husband Hugo, but longs for more out of life. When Anaïs first meets Henry Miller (Ward), she sees in him a rough man from New York. He has a talent in literature and is working on his first book. Henry is not afraid of life, but, rather, is intoxicated by it.

Then June (Thurman) comes to Paris, and Anaïs is drawn to her. At the start, she marvels at the strength of the woman but soon finds herself in love with her. June is openly bisexual, and that, in itself, is a dangerous temptation for Nin.

Anaïs must make a choice between her two lives, and Henry Miller is willing to accept her decision. In those final scenes, with no dialogue, the soundtrack plays the old French song, sung by Lucienne Boyer, "Parlez-moi D'Amour" ("speak to me of love").

Soundtrack

 * 1) Parlez-moi D'Amour (Lucienne Boyer)
 * 2) Claude Debussy, "Pour L'Egyptienne" (Ensemble Musical de Paris)
 * 3) Francis Poulenc, "Les Chemins de L'Amour" (Ransom Wilson & Christopher O'Riley)
 * 4) Claude Debussy, "Petite Suite-Ballet" (Alfons Kontarsky & Aloys Kontarsky)
 * 5) Henry Warren, "I Found A Million Dollar Baby" (Bing Crosby)
 * 6) Erik Satie, "Gnossienne #3" (Pascal Roge)
 * 7) Erik Satie, "Je Te Veux" (Jean-Pierre Armengaud)
 * 8) Claude Debussy, "Sonata for Violin and Piano" (first movement) (Kyung-Wha Chung & Radu Lupu)
 * 9) Frederic Chopin, Nocturne #1 in C Major (Paul Crossley)
 * 10) George Auric, "Sous Les Toits De Paris" (Rene Nazels)
 * 11) Jacques Larmanjat, lyrics by Francis Carco, "Le Doux Caboulot" (Annie Fratellini)
 * 12) Claude Debussy, "La Plus Que Lente" (Josef Suk)
 * 13) Je M'Ennuie (Mark Adler)
 * 14) Coralia (Mark Adler)
 * 15) Irving Mills, "St. James Infirmary Blues" (Mark Adler)
 * 16) Francisco Tarrega, "Gran Vals" (Francisco Tarrega)
 * 17) Joaquin Nin-Culmell, "Basque Song" (Joaquin Nin-Culmell)
 * 18) Vincent Scotto, lyrics by George Koger & H. Vama, "J'ai Deux Amours" (Joesephine Baker)

Trivia

 * Henry & June was the first film to receive the MPAA's rating of NC-17, which had been devised as a replacement for the X rating. NC-17 was intended to signify films with more violence or sexual content than would qualify for an R rating. Conversely, it was given a lenient M rating in Australia.
 * The film was banned in South Africa.