Enemies, a Love Story

1989 "The war was over. But can there ever be peace for a man with three wives?"
Enemies, a Love Story
6.6| 1h59m| R| en| More Info
Released: 13 December 1989 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A ghostwriter finds himself romantically involved with his current wife, a married woman and his long-vanished wife.

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Reviews

davew-14 One reviewer complained about struggling to hear the dialogue. This is due to a huge mistake made when the film was improperly mastered for DVD; some DVD players, especially if they are trying to create phantom surround tracks with a 2-channel stereo-only system, will play this superb film incorrectly. If you can, experiment with the sound settings on your A/V amplifier, and you will likely find something that works correctly. Perhaps someday someone will properly remaster this film for Blu-Ray. It's entirely possible the 5.1 version streaming on iTunes will play correctly - I haven't checked.A reviewer from Turkey complained about everyone talking in Italian accents. This is absolutely not true, and, in fact, Margaret Sophie Stein, who plays Herman's Polish wife Yadwiga, is a native of Poland who had to work very hard to speak English for the film. As the sound supervisor on this film I know for a fact that the accents are very authentic.
TedMichaelMor Director Paul Mazursky's "Enemies, A Love Story" interplays wondrous ironies, narrative twists, humour, and wisdom. With a keen eye for historical nuance and detail (which the director describes in a voice-over commentary on one DVD edition), he explores the limits of suffering and survival—the loss that one cannot transcend against a community that does transcend immense evil.I very much like Fred Taylor's elegant cinematography as well as subtle editing by Stuart Pappé. These are important components of films. Casting seems to be perfect in a film with great depth worn (for the most part) lightly.Some of the film deeply bothered me because I suffer from chronic depression. I could not watch this film more than twice. However, Roger Simon and the director have created a splendid adaptation from the Isaac Singer masterwork.Ron Silver, always a gifted actor, never did any better work than this depiction of the paranoid, driven, and almost broken Herman Brother. Małgorzata Zajączkowska's tender Yadwiga, Herman's Polish Catholic savior and wife, centers the narrative by being more faithful to Judaism than her husband or his corrupt rabbi employer. Alan King as Rabbi Lembeck recalls for me a number of corrupt Protestant pastors I have known or for whom I worked. King plays this role with great skill.No one but Anjelica Houston could play Tamara, Herman's first wife, and the one who with the second wife redeems tradition and the future. Lena Olin's Marsha overwhelmed me. She is why I cannot watch the movie again. What a powerful portrait of despair. This is a great film. Watch it. It is a blessing and a boon.
PINAR BEDIRLI The acting was nice, the story good... But I am just wondering, why those people are speaking to each other with an Italian ACCENT all the time? I mean, they are Polish! "Herman Broder" is a guy, who escape from the Nazi's in Poland. They are Polish people with Jewish background. Just to make some simple minded watchers ("somewhere underdeveloped in Europe") clear that the main characters are Jewish, letting them speak with an Italian accent is so unbelievable! However, the acting was very nice and even if the sexual scenes are exaggerated a little bit, it is a good movie to watch (for adults - who can understand this) because some scenes are really heart-breaking... Can only recommend it.
lennie_mo_ After reading the novel this film was based on, I thought: "No way! There is absolutely no way they can portray these raw emotions on film!" But that's exactly what the amazing actors do! The three women are as different as they could be, but each character is spot-on. Between these 3 women (Lena Olin, Anjelica Houston and Margaret Sophie Stein) is Ron Silver, whose character's emotions are clearly displayed on his face - I don't know if he is the anchor in the movie, because at times he is overshadowed by his female co-stars, but he makes me sympathize with him.The "old" feel of the movie is great, and I do believe that it's a realistic image of New York in the late '40s.It might be a bit depressing, but it should be seen if not only for the acting - trust me, it's fantastic!