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An Almost Perfect Affair (1979) movie poster

Characters & Themes

An Almost Perfect Affair (1979) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
1979 · 91 mins · English
Starring
Monica Vitti, Keith Carradine, Sergio Leone, Michael Ritchie, Raf Vallone, George Peppard

An idealistic debut director, driven solely by his art, encounters the wife of an Italian producer during the Cannes Film Festival. Their intense affair ignites, but as they chase fame and fortune, the couple’s romance is strained by jealousy, ambition and the seductive lure of success.

On this page (8)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Characters explained (6)
  3. 3 Where & when it takes place
  4. 4 Themes & meaning (3)
  5. 5 Character & meaning questions
  6. 6 Movie threads
  7. 7 Movies like An Almost Perfect Affair
  8. 8 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch An Almost Perfect Affair (1979)

Where can you watch An Almost Perfect Affair? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store and Fandango At Home: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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6 main characters · contains spoilers

An Almost Perfect Affair Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of An Almost Perfect Affair (1979), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Hal Raymond (Keith Carradine)

    A young, idealistic filmmaker fresh from film school, Hal is driven to make his mark with a controversial project. He is passionate about his art but often naïve about industry gatekeepers, and his romance with Maria reveals a vulnerability beneath his ambition.

    • 🎬 Director
    • 🧭 Determination
    • 💡 Ambition
  • Maria Barone (Monica Vitti)

    A glamorous former actress and Freddie's wife, Maria exudes charm and social savvy. She uses her influence to push Hal's project forward while seeking genuine connection, navigating the festival's politics with wit and restraint.

    • 💃 Socialite
    • 🎭 Actress
    • 💎 Glamour
  • Freddie Barone (Raf Vallone)

    A powerful Italian film producer with a taste for prestige, Freddie wields significant influence over festival publicity and negotiations. He is sophisticated and protective of his wife, complicating Hal's ambitions and Maria's desires.

    • 💼 Producer
    • 🎩 High Society
    • 💫 Power
  • Lt. Montand (Henri Garcin)

    A stern customs officer who delays Hal's film by enforcing bureaucratic rules until clearance is granted. He represents institutional gatekeeping, testing Hal's patience and resolve.

    • 🛂 Bureaucracy
    • 🗝️ Gatekeeping
    • 🧭 Decision
  • Andrew Jackson (Self)

    A sardonic director-producer in town to publicize his own blaxploitation film. He serves as a foil to Hal's earnestness, highlighting the pressures of festival publicity and personal ambition.

    • 🎭 Industry Insider
    • 💬 Publicity
    • 🧨 Provocation
  • Monte Hellman (Monte Hellman)

    A cameo by the director playing himself at the Cannes Film Festival, adding meta-commentary on the filmmaking world and the festival circuit.

    • 🎬 Director
    • 🗺️ Meta
    • ⭐ Fame

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:33

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Setting

Where and When Does An Almost Perfect Affair Take Place?

The setting of An Almost Perfect Affair (1979): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

Location

Cannes, Nice, Paris

The story unfolds along the French Riviera, centering on Cannes and Nice during the Cannes Film Festival. The area is renowned for glamorous festival season, luxury hotels, beaches, and celebrity sightings. Key scenes take place around the Carlton Hotel, the Palm Beach casino, and a Barone family yacht, highlighting the opulent festival atmosphere.

  • 🏖️ French Riviera
  • 🏛️ Film festival hubs
  • 🚢 Coastal towns

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:33

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3 major themes

An Almost Perfect Affair Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is An Almost Perfect Affair (1979) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Love vs Career

    Hal's devotion to Maria pits personal longing against the pressures of his fledgling film project. Maria negotiates the festival's social web, showing how relationships can be leveraged for influence. The arc explores how romance can conflict with professional ambition in a world ruled by publicity.

  • Censorship

    The reels are held up by officials until the censor approves, illustrating gatekeeping over artistic work. Publicists and producers manipulate promotion and titles to maximize appeal, blurring the line between art and marketing. The censor's screening becomes a crucial test for Hal's integrity and vision.

  • Glamour

    The Cannes milieu is saturated with luxury, yachts, and high-society parties, painting a picture of celebrity culture at its brightest. Characters maneuver through wealth and influence, where reputation can trump talent. The setting underscores both the allure and costs of living in the festival spotlight.

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:33

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Character & theme questions

An Almost Perfect Affair Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about An Almost Perfect Affair (1979): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where is the movie set?

The story unfolds along the French Riviera, primarily in Cannes and Nice during the renowned Cannes Film Festival. Key scenes take place around the Carlton Hotel, the Palm Beach casino, and a Barone family yacht, capturing the opulent festival atmosphere.

  • cannes
  • french riviera
  • film festival setting
  • carlton hotel
  • nice
Q2

What is the Cannes Film Festival setting like in the movie?

The setting portrays Cannes at its most glamorous, with luxury hotels, beaches, and celebrity sightings. The festival milieu is saturated with wealth, yachts, and high-society parties, showcasing both the allure and pressures of the film world's spotlight.

  • cannes film festival
  • glamour
  • celebrity culture
  • luxury
  • yachts
Q3

What does the Love vs Career theme explore?

Hal's devotion to Maria pits personal longing against the pressures of his fledgling film project. The theme explores how romance can conflict with professional ambition in a world ruled by publicity, highlighting the difficult choices artists face between love and their career.

  • love vs career
  • ambition
  • romance
  • professionalism
  • film industry
Q4

How does censorship play into the movie's themes?

Censorship is portrayed through customs officials who hold up Hal's film reels until the censor approves. This illustrates gatekeeping over artistic work, as publicists and producers manipulate promotion and titles to maximize appeal, blurring the line between art and marketing.

  • censorship
  • film reels
  • gatekeeping
  • customs
  • art vs commerce
Q5

What does the Glamour theme represent?

The Cannes milieu showcases luxury, yachts, and high-society parties, painting a picture of celebrity culture at its brightest. Characters maneuver through wealth and influence, where reputation can trump talent, underscoring both the allure and costs of living in the festival spotlight.

  • glamour
  • celebrity
  • cannes
  • festival
  • wealth
  • reputation
Q6

Who is Hal Raymond?

Hal Raymond is a young, idealistic filmmaker fresh from film school who arrives at Cannes to make his mark with a controversial project. He is passionate about his art but often naïve about industry gatekeepers, and his romance with Maria reveals a vulnerability beneath his professional ambition.

  • hal raymond
  • filmmaker
  • director
  • idealist
  • film school
Q7

Who is Maria Barone and what is her role?

Maria Barone is a glamorous former actress and the wife of Italian producer Freddie Barone. She exudes charm and social savvy, using her influence to navigate the festival's politics while seeking genuine connection. Her role represents the intersection of romance and industry manipulation.

  • maria barone
  • actress
  • freddie barone wife
  • influence
  • charm
Q8

Who is Freddie Barone?

Freddie Barone is a powerful Italian film producer with a taste for prestige who wields significant influence over festival publicity and negotiations. He is sophisticated and protective of his wife, serving as an obstacle to Hal's ambitions while representing the business side of filmmaking.

  • freddie barone
  • producer
  • italian
  • influence
  • festival power
Q9

What genre is the film?

An Almost Perfect Affair is a comedy-drama romance that leans more dramatic than comedic. The film maintains a bittersweet tone, exploring themes of infidelity and the cost of ambition with medium emotional intensity.

  • comedy drama
  • romance
  • genre
  • bittersweet tone
Q10

When is the movie set?

While the exact year is not explicitly stated in the setting data, the film is set during the Cannes Film Festival, suggesting a contemporary late 1970s setting that aligns with the movie's 1979 release date.

  • time period
  • festival era
  • 1970s
  • cannes
Q11

What is the overall tone of the movie?

The film has a bittersweet tone, the affair begins with charm and glamour but becomes complicated by jealousy and the central conflict of choosing between love and career. The emotional weight is medium, dealing with infidelity and the cost of ambition without extreme trauma.

  • tone
  • bittersweet
  • emotional weight
  • infidelity
  • ambition
Q12

What role does the Palm Beach casino play in the setting?

The Palm Beach casino is one of the key locations showcasing the festival's glamorous side. Along with the Carlton Hotel and the Barone family yacht, it represents the opulent venues where industry players network, negotiate, and display their status during Cannes.

  • palm beach casino
  • carlton hotel
  • yacht
  • luxury venues
  • cannes locations

Movie threads

More Movies Like An Almost Perfect Affair, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes An Almost Perfect Affair tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about glamorous tragic romance like An Almost Perfect Affair

Passionate affairs in luxurious settings that end in romantic disillusionment. Find movies like An Almost Perfect Affair that explore passionate, high-stakes affairs in glamorous worlds. If you enjoyed the mix of romantic passion, jealousy, and the high costs of ambition against a luxurious Cannes backdrop, these films offer a similar bittersweet experience.

  • romantic
  • glamorous
  • passionate
  • anxious
  • regretful
  • melancholic
  • Tone: bittersweet, passionate, regretful
  • Pacing: steady, character-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These stories typically follow a whirlwind romance that begins with intense attraction and a glamorous, often escapist, setting. The central conflict arises from the clash between personal desire and professional ambition, societal expectations, or simple incompatibility. The narrative arc charts the rise and inevitable fall of the relationship, culminating in a poignant ending where love is lost but a lesson is learned.

Why they belong together: They are grouped by their shared focus on a specific type of romance—one that is both aspirational and tragic. The mood is a consistent blend of passion, anxiety, and regret, all set within a visually appealing, high-society world. The tone is consistently bittersweet, exploring the fine line between romantic fantasy and painful reality.

Movies about the conflict between art and love like An Almost Perfect Affair

Stories about creators torn between their artistic ambition and a consuming romance. Discover films similar to An Almost Perfect Affair where the central drama is the tension between artistic ambition and romantic love. If you liked seeing a filmmaker's passion for his craft clash with his desire for a fulfilling relationship, these movies explore that same poignant struggle.

  • artistic
  • frustrated
  • passionate
  • introspective
  • regretful
  • ambitious
  • Tone: bittersweet, frustrated, contemplative
  • Pacing: steady, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern follows a dedicated artist who falls in love. The relationship thrives until the demands of their creative ambition—the pursuit of fame, the need for solitude, or sheer obsession—create an irreconcilable rift. The story is a character study of this internal conflict, often concluding with a sacrifice where one passion must be chosen over the other.

Why they belong together: These films share a core thematic focus on the cost of creation. They examine whether true art requires personal sacrifice and how love can be both a muse and a distraction. The emotional journey is defined by frustration, difficult choices, and the specific melancholy of gaining professional success at the expense of personal happiness.

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Every angle

An Almost Perfect Affair (1979) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about An Almost Perfect Affair in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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