Damage is a 1992 romantic psychological drama film directed
and produced by Louis Malle and starring Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche,
Miranda Richardson, Rupert Graves, and Ian Bannen. Adapted by David Hare from
the 1991 novel Damage by Josephine Hart, the film is about a British politician
(Irons) who has a sexual relationship with his son's fiancée and becomes
increasingly obsessed with her. Richardson was nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actress and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a
Supporting Role for her performance as the aggrieved wife of the film's main
character.
Plot
Dr. Stephen Fleming, a physician who has entered politics
and become a minister, lives in London with wife Ingrid and daughter Sally.
Their adult son, Martyn, a young journalist, lives elsewhere in London. At a
reception, Stephen meets a young woman, Anna Barton, the daughter of a British
diplomat and a four-times-married Frenchwoman. Anna introduces herself as a
close friend of Martyn's; she and Stephen are instantly attracted to each
other. Some time later, Martyn brings Anna to meet his parents at their elegant
townhouse and reveals they are romantically involved. The sexual tension
between Stephen and Anna is apparent, although Martyn and Ingrid seem unaware.
After Anna calls his office, Stephen goes to her flat, where
they have sex. The following day, Martyn is promoted and Ingrid arranges a
celebratory dinner. There, Ingrid seems suspicious and interrogates Anna about
her childhood. Anna says her brother, a year older, committed suicide over
"love" when he was 16. After dinner, Martyn drives Anna home and
Stephen follows them. Once Martyn leaves, Stephen enters and tells Anna how
much he "wanted to touch her during dinner", leading to them having
sex again. Anna describes her brother's death, after he had expressed
incestuous desire, saying "he wanted me all to himself and not to grow
up." She says that damaged people are dangerous, and that she hates
possessiveness.
Stephen's obsession with Anna deepens; on a whim, he leaves
a conference in Brussels to go to Paris, where Anna is spending the weekend
with Martyn. While Martyn sleeps, Stephen and Anna have sex in a doorway.
Afterwards, Stephen moves in opposite Anna and Martyn, spying on them; he now
wants to be with Anna permanently, even if it destroys his family. Anna
dissuades him, assuring him that, as long as she is with Martyn he will always
have access to her. Visiting Anna's home, Stephen finds Peter Wetzler, her
former lover. A jealous Stephen assumes Anna is cheating and, when Peter
leaves, confronts her. Anna denies it and recounts that, when she witnessed her
brother's suicide, she had fled to Peter and slept with him as a reaction.
The Flemings visit Edward Lloyd, Ingrid's father and
Stephen's political mentor, to celebrate her birthday. Martyn announces that
Anna has accepted his proposal of marriage, which visibly disturbs Stephen.
That night, Sally observes him leaving Anna's room. An anxious Stephen lies
about it, telling Sally he was talking to Anna about the marriage because
Ingrid was upset. Later, the Flemings have lunch with Anna's mother, Elizabeth,
who disparages the marriage, saying that Martyn doesn't seem like Anna's 'usual
type' but noting how closely he resembles Anna's dead brother. Elizabeth
notices the strained behavior between Anna and Stephen. She deduces the affair
and warns Stephen to end it.
Stephen initially complies and ends the relationship. He
tries to confess to Martyn and Ingrid, separately, but in the end does not do
it. He phones Anna, but hangs up when Martyn answers. Anna sends a key to
Stephen's office, with the address of a flat where they can meet. She tells
Stephen that she could not marry Martyn without being with him. They meet at
the flat and begin another tryst, but Martyn—having discovered about the flat
by chance—finds them in bed. Stunned, he accidentally falls over a railing to
his death. A devastated Stephen runs down the stairs naked and clutches his
body, while Anna silently leaves.
Stephen's affair is exposed and becomes a media frenzy. An
anguished Ingrid questions whether he had ever loved her and tells him she
wishes they had never met. Stephen resigns his government position. Meeting
Anna's mother, he discovers Anna is staying with her, but he and Anna are
silent in their last meeting. Stephen, leaving his wife and daughter, retires
to a rented room in a southern European town. In narration, he reveals that he
saw Anna only once more, in passing at an airport, and that she has a child
with Peter. Stephen stares at a huge blowup on his wall of a photo Martyn gave
him of Stephen, Anna and Martyn together. He ends with a calm note: "She
was no different from anyone else."
Cast
Jeremy Irons as Dr. Stephen Fleming
Juliette Binoche as Anna Barton
Miranda Richardson as Ingrid Fleming
Rupert Graves as Martyn Fleming
Ian Bannen as Edward Lloyd
Peter Stormare as Peter Wetzler
Gemma Clarke as Sally Fleming
Leslie Caron as Elizabeth Prideaux
Julian Fellowes as Donald Lyndsay, MP
Tony Doyle as Prime Minister
Ray Gravell as Dr. Fleming's chauffeur
Susan Engel as Miss Snow
David Thewlis as Detective
Benjamin Whitrow as Civil Servant
Critical reception
Damage received many favorable reviews. On the review
aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 26 critics' reviews are positive,
with an average rating of 6.9/10. On
Metacritic the film has a score of 71 out of 100 based on reviews from 28
critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Gene Siskel considered it one of the year's best films upon
its release, commenting that it is "written smart, written with a
topicality, so the characters seem credible". He went on to say that
"Damage is a real special film".Roger Ebert described it as "one
of the most compelling films [he'd] ever seen"[6] and gave it 4 out of 4
stars.
Kenneth Turan, in a review for the Los Angeles Times, had
much praise for the film, and for the performances of Irons, Binoche, and
Richardson; writing: "working together with great seriousness of purpose
and a considerable amount of skill, this team has turned Damage into high-class
entertainment, carefully controlled, beautifully mounted and played with total
conviction. Its lurid soul may have more in common with Jackie Collins than
Jane Austen, but its passionate nature and convincing performances can't help
but draw you in."
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Malle's direction of
a "faithful film version" of Hart's original novel. Of the cast,
Travers was most favourable toward Richardson's portrayal of Ingrid:
"Richardson is extraordinary; it's a brave, award-caliber
performance."
Todd McCarthy's review for Variety was somewhat more mixed,
stating that "Damage is a cold, brittle film about raging, traumatic
emotions. Unjustly famous before its release for its hardly extraordinary
erotic content, this very British-feeling drama from veteran French director
Louis Malle proves both compelling and borderline risible, wrenching and yet
emotionally pinched, and reps a solid entry for serious art-house audiences
worldwide. But more mainstream Yank viewers led by publicity to expect a hot or
romantic time will be in for a dry two hours."
In a mixed review for Empire magazine, Matt Mueller gave the
film 3 out of 5 stars, while leveling a few criticisms: "Walking a
precarious line between stark, penetrating drama and pretentious twaddle, Louis
Malle's terribly British vision of erotic obsession, adapted from Josephine
Hart's bestseller, is alternately compelling and risible, hypnotic and
remote." He praised Richardson, in particular for a scene near the end of
the film: "In that single scene, Damage achieves a level of gut-wrenching
emotional intensity that had previously been absent."