Use of Characterization in the Film 'An Affair of Love'

For the film An Affair of Love ,directed by Frederic Fonteyne and released in 1999, we were asked to examine characterization for my film class. In the film the two main characters are never given names. The Woman is medium height, slender and had neat brown hair. The Man appears to be shorter, has a medium build and has slicked black hair. The two meet at a cafe in what appears to be a part of town neither of them are too familiar with. We find throughout the film that the two have met in order to explore a certain 'fantasy'. We never really learn what the fantasy is, which I found to be a great device by the director leaving that afterthought with the audience.

The two meet every week at the cafe then find their way to a nearby hotel to explore this fantasy. Eventually, the woman suggests the next time they have 'normal sex', which leads to a downfall in their relationship. After that point the man begins to drift away emotionally from her. They at one point come across an old man who has tried to commit suicide because he didn't want his wife to have to live with him anymore. In the hospital they meet the old man's wife. In this scene we are given a glimpse of the woman's true feelings for the man. After leaving the hospital the two get into a huge argument and the two leave not knowing if the other will show up for their rendezvous the next week.

The next week the two both show, but they decide they will no longer continue their relationship. This film did an excellent job of exploring the characters without showing anything besides the two's meeting. There were no scenes of their jobs, homes or places of hobby which forced us to look at who these people were outside of their 'normal' lives. This is what leads me to believe the man got so upset when the woman wished to have 'normal' sex. They had both stepped out of their usual lives to be together to live out their fantasy, that's all he wanted.