Short Take: Henry & June

Henry & June is director Philip Kaufman's gorgeously realized valentine to the authors Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin, and to 1930s Paris as well. When the film begins in 1931, Nin (Maria de Medeiros) is an aspiring writer who lives outside Paris with her husband Hugo (Richard E. Grant). They're both from the United States, and one day Hugo brings some American acquaintances home for lunch. One of them is Miller (Fred Ward), who lives off the good will of others while working on Tropic of Cancer, the autobiographical novel that will become his masterpiece. He's a bum, but he's a funny, erudite, and expansive fellow, and Nin is entranced with him. She also becomes entranced with his wife June (Uma Thurman), who comes to visit from New York a few weeks later. Miller, though, becomes the most central to her life, particularly after they begin an affair. The film is about Nin's awakening to his more Bohemian temperament, and his openness to experience of all kinds. She also comes to share his obsession with June's narcissism and emotional distance. Kaufman sets Nin's journey and epiphanies in a romanticized Depression-era Paris that's a gritty playground of art, artists, and, it must be said, just about every flavor of sex. The film portrays writing as central for both Nin and Miller, but there is always time to step out to see the latest films by Dreyer and Buñuel, or to help the great photographer Brassaï take his pictures of the Paris demimonde, or just to enjoy wine and laughter with friends at a neighborhood bistro. Kaufman doesn't shy from presenting more wanton pursuits as well. For those enamored with this period of art and literature, the film is a happy dream come to life. Kaufman's Nin and Miller are marvelous guides to this world. Fred Ward wonderfully embodies the Miller who comes across in the author's books. He makes one feel Miller's appetites and joys, as well as the anger that fires the author's sharply caricatural wit. Maria de Medeiros is perfection as Nin. (Nin's second husband was so struck by de Medeiros' performance that he reportedly saw the film every day it played in theaters.) She seems to effortlessly convey Nin's refinement, her naughty joy at throwing off propriety's shackles, and even the occasional cunning when she manipulates others to get what she wants. Grant and Thurman don't make as strong an impression, but everyone is upstaged by Kevin Spacey's hilarious turn as Miller's apartment-mate, a wannabe writer who swears everybody is plagiarizing him. The sumptuous, deep-toned cinematography is by Philippe Rousselot. The terrific production design is by Guy-Claude François, and Thierry François provided the equally impressive costuming. The script is credited to Kaufman and his wife Rose. The source material is Nin's unexpurgated diaries.