A Man and a Woman

`A Man and A Woman (Un homme et une femme)'. ****. (1966, France, Not Rated 102 min. Directed by Claude Lelouch with Anouk Aimée, Jean-Louis Trintignant). I recently watched `Lumière and Company' which celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the movie industry. Forty directors from around the world produced 52-second films using the Lumière camera. The fifty-two second time limit and other constraints follow the construct of the first Lumière movie. Of the 40 films, the by-far-and-away best is the one of two lovers kissing. The man and woman are on a rotating stage so we get a 360-degree view of their kiss. In the background we see photographers each with progressively more modern cameras. The love or passion of the man and the woman don't change only the way we are able to view them now and then.

So what does this have to do with Claude Lelouch's 1996 movie, `A Man and A Woman'? Well he's the director that made the above mentioned film and it reminded me that it has been years since I last watched `A Man and A Woman.' I rented and watched it again.

Jean-Louis Duroc (Trintignant) and Anne Gauthier (Aimée) are a man and woman. They meet incidentally at the boarding school where they visit their children each weekend. He visits his son, she her daughter. She misses her train and he offers her ride back to ride back to Paris in his car. Slowly and cautiously we learn about them as they learn about one another. We learn about their jobs, their former spouses, and other details of their lives that have the movie viewer hoping this man and woman can become a couple.

Lelouch's technique in telling the story is wonderful. The film switches from black and white to color. The switch usually comes on the change from person-to-person conversation to personal thoughts or a recounting of the past. It's like Lelouch is using this change as quotation marks or thought balloons on the screen. We see/hear Jean-Louis' and Anne's thoughts as they question their feelings about beginning a new personnel relationship. I first saw this movie as a college student in 1966. I really liked it then. I wondered if I'd liked it now. The movie hasn't changed but I can assure you I have. `A Man and A Woman' proves that a good story, well told can be appreciated now and then. I highly recommend that you rent and watch `A Man and A Woman.'

This is a movie that resonated to my core. I identified with the main character on numerous levels. First, the way he responded to his feelings about her; the way he took a chance and "went for it." The way he responded to her telegram at the ball. He jumped in his car and drove another few hundred miles to be with her; I have taken an equivalent leap in my own life, and never have regretted it. One doesn't get many such chances in this world. The way he drove again and met her train in Paris. One must grab for the gold ring when it comes around and hang on. One must be willing to risk looking ridiculous on occasion in order to have a shot at winning the Big Prize. I know, I'm a hopeless romantic. I love being a hopeless romantic. I know, most of the heavyweight reviewers have been somewhat lukewarm about this movie. Doesn't bother me a bit.

It is so refreshing to watch a movie like this one. Those comparing it with Hollywood standards such as the density of the plot, the stunts or 'the sex scene' would be wise to take another look. Such standards cannot be applied here. Lelouch plays with colors, objects, and our natural capacity for associative memory to tell us what is neither written nor spoken. The main actors, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée master the art of expressing the message. Dialogs are far from poor, but the meaning sometimes has to be found in their tone, their breaks, their pace or, again, the characters' play. What would be cinema for if these were useless ?

This film moved me as a 21-year-old college student with almost no experience in romance, relationships, etc. It has remained a favorite for 34 years now. I think as highly of it with many experiences in life and love as I did with none. It is simply excellent.

I was a film major and saw this movie in a class and it became my No.1 movie immediately and has been ever since. This film is where you think maybe movie can be art and really influence people's life. the storyline is simple but the mood of the film is so deep but natural. I especially like the part when Anne and Jean-Louis walk on the beach in the late afternoon and talk about the story of an artist and his cat. Lelouch did the love story about two mid-age parents when he was 28 and he did a brilliant job. He couldn't afford all colored film but he totally made this film a colored/ black-and-white style classic. The only scene looks bad in color and should be in black-and-white is the scene with Jean-Louis's ex. a great movie and it doesn't age at all.