# Damage (1992 film)
**Damage** is a 1992 erotic drama directed by [Louis Malle](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-malle), adapted by playwright David Hare from Josephine Hart's best-selling first novel, in which a British Member of Parliament destroys his family through an obsessive affair with his son's fiancée. It stars [Jeremy Irons](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeremy-irons) as Dr. [Stephen Fleming](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-fleming), Juliette Binoche as Anna Barton, and Miranda Richardson as Ingrid Fleming, and it was Malle's penultimate film.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/fullcredits/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / producer | Louis Malle, his penultimate film[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/fullcredits/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237) |
| Source and screenplay | David Hare screenplay from Josephine Hart's novel *Damage*[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/fullcredits/) |
| Lead cast | Jeremy Irons (Dr. Stephen Fleming), Juliette Binoche (Anna Barton), Miranda Richardson (Ingrid Fleming), Rupert Graves (Martyn Fleming)[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage/cast-and-crew) |
| Ratings | Director's cut rated NC-17; US theatrical release rated R for strong sexuality and language[4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/parentalguide/) |
| Key awards | Miranda Richardson: Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and BAFTA win in the same category; Zbigniew Preisner won the LAFCA Award for Best Music[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/awards/) |
| Reception | Metascore 71 from 28 reviews; 80% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes; US gross $7.5 million[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damage/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage) |
| French release | Released in Paris on 15 December 1992 under the title *Fatale*[9](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=4693) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Stephen Fleming is a respected, upper-crust British politician in a stable marriage with Ingrid, with two children and the favor of the Prime Minister.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage/cast-and-crew) • [4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) At a diplomatic reception he meets Anna Barton, and the two exchange a look that makes their words beside the point; he then learns that Anna is the brand-new girlfriend of his son Martyn ([Rupert Graves](https://www.edgepedia.org/rupert-graves)).[4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) Neither cares to stop: they begin a frenzied, wordless affair carried on in bedrooms, kitchens, hotels, and once the doorway of a church, while Stephen deceives both his wife and his son and endures family outings as Martyn and Anna draw closer to marriage.[4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) • [10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-23-ca-2110-story.html)
Anna tells Stephen about a devastating episode in her past and warns him that "damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive."[4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) The affair culminates in Martyn's death and Stephen's ruin.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-26-ca-1285-story.html) In the film's close, Richardson's spurned wife delivers what one critic called the film's most powerful scene.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damage/)
## Production
Malle moved quickly when British author Josephine Hart had pre-publication galley proofs of her first novel, an erotic melodrama, sent to him. "I optioned the book, tried to come up with a screenplay, and within two weeks sent the book to Jeremy Irons, asking him if he wanted to star in it," Malle recalled; Irons's response was enthusiastic.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-26-ca-1285-story.html) The novel became a best seller on both sides of the Atlantic while the film was in production.[4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage)
Malle worked out his own structure for the screenplay before handing it to the British playwright David Hare, best known for *Plenty*.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-26-ca-1285-story.html) • [4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) The adaptation loosened the novel's exclusive focus on Stephen's point of view, and Stephen's daughter Sally, 22 in Hart's novel, became about 13 in the film, a silent observer of her father's dilemma.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-26-ca-1285-story.html)
**Casting.** Malle chose the French actress [Juliette Binoche](https://www.edgepedia.org/juliette-binoche), then best known internationally for *The Unbearable Lightness of Being*, as Anna in the $13-million production. Her accent suited his design: "I wanted her to be really different among the cast, someone coming from a different culture. She's this outsider, an intruder into this very conventional English family." He had Hare meet Binoche before writing, saying the part was "pretty much written for her."[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-26-ca-1285-story.html)
The supporting cast includes [Ian Bannen](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-bannen) as Stephen's father Edward Lloyd, Leslie Caron in a cameo as Anna's mother Elizabeth Prideaux, Peter Stormare as Peter Wetzler, Julian Fellowes as Donald Lyndsay, and Tony Doyle as the Prime Minister.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage/cast-and-crew) • [12](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/85407--damage-e/)
**Crew.** Peter Biziou was the cinematographer, John Bloom the editor, and the Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner wrote the score, described by one critic as haunting and disturbing.[9](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=4693) • [4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) Production companies included Nouvelles Éditions de Films, Skreba Films, StudioCanal, Channel Four Films, and Canal+, with support from the European Co-Production Fund.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damage/) • [9](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=4693)
## Release and ratings
The film premiered in France, opening in Paris on 15 December 1992 under the title *Fatale*, and was released in the United Kingdom as *Damage*.[9](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=4693) In the United States it opened in limited release on December 23, 1992, distributed by [New Line Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-line-cinema).[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage)
The director's cut was rated NC-17 in the United States, though the sex scenes are mostly discreet as far as exposed flesh goes, and the film was released with an R rating for strong sexuality and language.[4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) • [10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-23-ca-2110-story.html) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/parentalguide/) The British Board of Film Classification classified the cinema version at 111 minutes 17 seconds on 15 October 1992; later home-video versions ran from about 106 to 111 minutes.[13](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/damage-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjcynte) In Spain, where it opened on 25 March 1993, it was rated not recommended for audiences under 18 and drew 686,195 admissions.[9](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=4693)
## Reception
Critical response was favorable on balance. The film holds a Metascore of 71 based on 28 reviews, with 75 percent positive, and an 80 percent Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damage/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage) Roger Ebert, the film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, gave it four stars, writing that like *Last Tango in Paris* and *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* it is one of those rare movies that is "about sexuality, not sex," and that Stephen and Anna "cannot help themselves" as they careen toward disaster.[14](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/damage-1993) [Gene Siskel](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-siskel) praised David Hare's script for giving equal time to the female psyche.[15](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/criticreviews/)
Dissenting reviews targeted the writing. Janet Maslin of *The New York Times* wrote that not even a filmmaker of Malle's intelligence and taste could make the stilted story add up, and the *Chicago Tribune* called the film "a fruit bowl reduced to a raisin."[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damage/) Kenneth Turan, film critic of the *Los Angeles Times*, judged that the film's erotic charge comes more from the looks on faces than the positions of bodies, and credited the principals for playing the melodrama with unwavering conviction.[4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage)
**Awards.** [Miranda Richardson](https://www.edgepedia.org/miranda-richardson) received the film's central recognition: an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 1993 ceremony, a BAFTA Film Award win in the same category, a Golden Globe nomination, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, shared with her work in *The Crying Game* and *Enchanted April*.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/awards/) Juliette Binoche was nominated for the César for Best Actress, and Preisner won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/awards/) At the 1994 Sant Jordi Awards, Irons won Best Foreign Actor and Binoche Best Foreign Actress.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/awards/)
## Place in Malle's work and the erotic thriller cycle
*Damage* belongs to the early-1990s cycle of films about violent, obsessive sexual love, and to Malle's long-running fascination with the extremes of human behavior, from *The Fire Within* and *[Murmur of the Heart](https://www.edgepedia.org/murmur-of-the-heart)* to *Pretty Baby* and *Atlantic City*.[16](https://www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com/reviews/d/damage.html) • [4](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage) Critics repeatedly compared it to *Last Tango in Paris*, noting that where Bertolucci's film celebrates the loss of control, Malle's direction is elegant and precise, and the film remains somberly objective as Stephen's actions grow catastrophic.[15](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/criticreviews/) • [17](https://mubi.com/en/films/damage/critics-reviews)
The film's notoriety for erotic content preceded its release; the *Variety* critic called it "unjustly famous before its release for its hardly extraordinary erotic content."
[15](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/criticreviews/) Its reputation has since rested more on Richardson's performance and the final image, which one retrospective review called a symbol of everything Stephen had and lost, epitomizing the three lives he ruined.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage)
## References
1. [Damage (1992) – Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/fullcredits/)
2. [Damage (1992), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237)
3. [Damage: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage/cast-and-crew)
4. [Kenneth Turan, "Damage," The Criterion Collection, June 7, 1993](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/793-damage)
5. [Damage (1992) – Parents guide, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/parentalguide/)
6. [Damage (1992) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/awards/)
7. [Damage Reviews – Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damage/)
8. [Damage, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damage)
9. [ICAA Film Data – Damage (Herida), ICAA Film Database](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=4693)
10. [MOVIE REVIEWS : 'Damage': A High-Class Steamy Soap - Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-23-ca-2110-story.html)
11. ["ON LOCATION: Malle's Aforethought," Los Angeles Times, April 26, 1992](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-26-ca-1285-story.html)
12. [Damage (E), ACMI collection](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/85407--damage-e/)
13. [Damage, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/damage-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjcynte)
14. [Roger Ebert, "Damage," Chicago Sun-Times, January 22, 1993](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/damage-1993)
15. [Damage (1992) – Metacritic reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/criticreviews/)
16. [Adrian Martin, "Damage" review](https://www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com/reviews/d/damage.html)
17. [Damage (1992) critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/damage/critics-reviews)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1990s › Drama films early 1990s*
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