A Man and a Woman (1966)

A widow and a widower find their relationship developing into love, but their past tragedies prove hard to overcome, causing them to proceed with utmost delicacy.

Director:

Claude Lelouch

Writer:

Pierre Uytterhoeven

Stars:

Anouk Aimée, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Pierre Barouh

Won 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anouk Aimée	...	Anne Gauthier
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Jean-Louis Duroc (as Jean Louis Trintignant)
Pierre Barouh	...	Pierre Gauthier
Valérie Lagrange	...	Valerie Duroc
Antoine Sire	...	Antoine Duroc (as Antoine)
Souad Amidou	...	Françoise Gauthier (as Souad)
Henri Chemin	...	Jean-Louis' Codriver
Yane Barry	...	Mistress of Jean-Louis
Paul Le Person	...	Garage Man
Simone Paris	...	Head Mistress
Gérard Sire	...	Announcer

Storyline

A man and a woman meet by accident on a Sunday evening at their children's boarding school. Slowly the widower and widow reveal themselves to each other, with each revelation hidden by a misperception. They become closer and closer, until she reveals that she can't have a lover because her husband's memory is still far too strong. Much of the film is told wordlessly in actions or through hearing each person's thoughts.

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Plot Keywords:

deauville | car chase | paris france | male female relationship | love | 

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Taglines:

See It With Someone You Love!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English Spanish

Release Date:

12 July 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Man and a Woman

Filming Locations:

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films 13

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The race scene about 53 minutes into the film, is the 1964, 24 Hours of Le Mans. The actor Jean-Louis Trintignant's (Jean-Louis Duroc) uncle is in this race, driving a Maserati Tipo 151/1, #2. He is Maurice Trintignant, a Grand Prix and sports cars racer. He won eleven Grand Prix races (some non-points races) and the 1954, 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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Quotes

Jean-Louis Duroc: Some Sundays start well and end badly. It's hard to believe- It's crazy to refuse happiness. If I had to go through this again, What would I do? Is there anything else I could do? To see her for months on end as a pal. What happens? You end up being pals, maybe. She wired, 'I love you.' Admit it boy, you just don't understand women.

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Connections

Featured in Geburtstagskinder der Nouvelle Vague (2007)

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Soundtracks

Aujourd'hui c'est toi
Music by Francis Lai
Lyrics by Pierre Barouh
Performed by Nicole Croisille

User Reviews

still pleasing 37 years later

I saw this film twice when it came out in 1966. The leading characters are quite handsome and appealing to watch. At the time I loved the music soundtrack and even bought the soundtrack album. Seeing it is available on DVD and has some bonus footage, it was a real pleasure to watch this film again, as a bonus, with my second wife. Although it seems a bit dated and many films have copied elements of its style, it still captures and stirs the emotions about the possibility of falling in love and the reality of being a "walking wounded" mid 30's single person. The bonus footage showing how the film was made on the cheap with minimum rehearsing is quite amazing. Films today are often made for hundreds to thousands times the cost, and are as spontaneous as a log pile. I recommend a revisit to this film, but imagine today's young film watchers could be bored with the absence of violence, swearing, kinky sex, and other predictable ingredients of today's formula films. one amusing feature which dates the film is the near chain smoking both stars in the film keep doing on screen. That is mostly not cool these days.