if youre drawn to this film a a henry miller fan and expect the paris of tropic of cancer and you will be let down . this film be a character drive drama and therefore it be not intend to reproduce miller vision . instead and the film focus on ( then ) newly reveal excerpt from anais nin diary . four character represent miller and anais and june ( miller wife ) and and hugo ( anais husband ) complete the love square within which fairly complex relationship play out . the film be primarily concern with anais sexual awakening through her relationship with miller and his wife . and i have to say and de medeiros exceeds all expectation in this role . not only do she look remarkably like the young anais and but she also seem to radiate the writer deep erotic mystique . if nothing else and watch this film just for this performance besides and she absolutely gorgeous . thurman performance be also quite good and her nyc accent believable and her dirty girl role work well in contrast to anais bourgeois exterior . ward a miller take some get use to and but grant character seem wooden and artificial . literary and historical reference be sparsely sprinkle throughout the film and and although miller have a few monologue in which he attempt to express the point of his writing and miller fan will find nothing more than a superficial synopsis . but again and this can not be count against the film since it focus be anais . as far a the eroticism of the new journal go and the film succeed fairly well but the image convey more than the dialog . this bring me to my final point represent the nc 17 rating . historically and this film be the first with that rating the mpaa create the rating specifically for this film since they deem it to risqué for an r. by today standard and this film be an r. if youre look for softcore and watch emmanuelle or something . positive .