Henry & June
ヘンリー&ジューン／私が愛した男と女
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
Anaïs Nin, Henry Miller and his wife June in 1931 Paris; the first film to receive the NC-17 rating.
Paris, 1931. Anaïs Nin, a young writer who confides everything to her diary and has published a book on D. H. Lawrence, has moved to the city with her husband, Hugo, a banker who adores her and whom she loves. Still, she longs for more. She meets Henry Miller, a brash, penniless American working on his first novel, and the two are drawn at once to each other's ideas. Then Henry's wife, June, arrives from New York, a bold, theatrical woman who carries a little marionette about with her, and Anaïs is as captivated by her as by Henry.
Anaïs and Henry begin an affair, roaming the cafés, talking about literature and testing their own daring, and she lets herself be drawn into the Millers' tormented marriage, pursuing June as well. Beside all this stands patient Hugo, whom she goes on loving: they visit a brothel together to watch two women, and in bed she asks him to imagine he is with June. When a publisher at a party offers to bring out Henry's novel, Tropic of Cancer, if part of the cost is paid in advance, Anaïs puts up the money. June comes to resent the way Henry writes about her. Later, alone together, June and Anaïs make love.
In the end Anaïs decides to leave the couple. June, enraged, flings the manuscripts of Henry's novel and Anaïs's writing into the air, and the pages mix together. The affair has helped drive the Millers apart, and Anaïs goes back to Hugo. He collects her in his car, and Henry follows a little way behind on his bicycle.
Starring
Maria de Medeirosas Anaïs Nin
A young writer and diarist living in Paris with her banker husband, whose desire reaches out to both Henry and June.
Anaïs Nin’s story
Anaïs loves Hugo, the banker husband who adores her and supports her writing, and still wants more. Through Hugo she meets Henry Miller, broke and at work on his first novel, and is drawn to his appetite for life; then Henry's wife, June, arrives from New York, and Anaïs is as fascinated by her as by him. She begins an affair with Henry, visits a brothel with Hugo, asks him in bed to imagine he is with June, and pays to have Henry's novel published. Alone with June, she makes love with her. When June realises what is between Henry and Anaïs, she flings their manuscripts into the air and leaves. Anaïs gathers up the pages, ends the affair and goes back to Hugo, who collects her in his car while Henry cycles behind.
Fred Wardas Henry Miller
A brash, penniless American writer in Paris, working on the novel that will become Tropic of Cancer.
Henry Miller’s story
Henry is lodging with a friend in Paris, writing a novel full of June, the wife who is both his muse and his torment. Through Hugo he meets Anaïs, and they are drawn at once to each other's ideas; she lends him her typewriter. When June arrives from New York their marriage is a running quarrel, and she resents the way he writes about her. He and Anaïs become lovers. When a publisher offers to bring out his novel, Tropic of Cancer, if part of the cost is paid in advance, Anaïs pays. June realises what is between them, flings his manuscript and Anaïs's into the air and walks out on them both. Anaïs goes back to Hugo, and as Hugo drives her away, Henry follows on his bicycle.
Uma Thurmanas June Miller
Henry's bold, theatrical wife, who arrives from New York and becomes the object of Anaïs's fascination.
June Miller’s story
June comes to Paris hoping to win Henry back, and finds herself at the heart of the novel he is writing. Their marriage is a running quarrel: she resents the way he writes about her and tells him he owes his material to her. Anaïs is enthralled, and June lets herself be pursued. She leaves for New York and comes back. At a party, drunk, she haggles with the publisher who will bring out Henry's book. Alone at last with Anaïs, she makes love with her. Then she realises that Anaïs and Henry are lovers. Declaring she is finished with them both, she flings their manuscripts into the air, so that the pages mix together, and walks out.
Richard E. Grantas Hugo
Anaïs's patient, devoted husband, a banker who stays in the background of her adventures and to whom she returns.
Why it matters
Henry & June is about a woman discovering that her desire is larger than her marriage, and writing it down. Anaïs loves her husband, wants Henry and then wants June, and the film treats her bisexuality and her appetite with curiosity rather than punishment, while showing what it costs: June's fury, a marriage between two artists coming apart, a patient husband left mostly in the background. Its place in film history is fixed by a rating. Universal's film had been given an X, a label pornography had made almost impossible to advertise; in September 1990 the film industry replaced the X with a new adults-only rating, NC-17, and Henry & June became the first film to carry it. Critics were cooler, some finding it less daring than the fuss suggested. What stays is Nin's own question: whether a woman can follow every part of her desire and still come home.