Viva la vie (1984)

The movie starts with an interview with director Claude Lelouch. He pleads viewers not to disclose the plot of the movie after leaving the projection room. Even the movie's trailer shows ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Lelouch

Writers:

Claude Lelouch (story), Claude Lelouch

Stars:

Charlotte Rampling, Michel Piccoli, Jean-Louis Trintignant

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlotte Rampling	...	Catherine Perrin
Michel Piccoli	...	Michel Perrin
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	François Gaucher
Evelyne Bouix	...	Sarah Gaucher
Charles Aznavour	...	Edouard Takvorian
Laurent Malet	...	Laurent Perrin
Tanya Lopert	...	Julia
Raymond Pellegrin	...	Barret
Charles Gérard	...	Charles
Anouk Aimée	...	Anouk
Myriam Boyer	...	Pauline
Patrick Depeyrrat	...	Taxidriver
Maryline Even	...	A Witness
Philippe Laudenbach	...	Professor Sternberg
Denis Lavant	...	Caviar delivery man

Storyline

The movie starts with an interview with director Claude Lelouch. He pleads viewers not to disclose the plot of the movie after leaving the projection room. Even the movie's trailer shows only a long sequence of faces gazing speechlessly in space. "Like all my movies, this one is about a man and a woman", says Lelouch in the interview.

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Plot Keywords:

operation | disappearance | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

18 April 1984 (France)

Also Known As:

En mand og en kvinde forsvinder

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films 13, Top n°1, Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Reminded me somewhat of Charlie Kaufman's scripts.

First off, the IMDb rating is criminal. 'Viva La Vie' should be averaging in the highest 7's IMO. On the positive side, going in with such low expectations, I was floored by how cool, and progressive this film is, and it's given me another under-exposed, excellent film to prosthelytize about to fellow film fans.

It's a fascinating film that I'd highly recommend to art house film lovers. I watched this film with a friend who is a fellow cinema fan, who can reasonably often have a different opinion than me on films. He loved it too, and we were both puzzled at the super low average this film has received.

I guess you could say that some people would be a little lost trying to decipher this film, but most should have no problem what so ever. To me, there are Charlie Kaufman qualities to this script. It keeps you guessing what is illusion and what is reality.

The Criterion Collection needs a few Claude Lelouch films, and this one is a prime candidate of a hidden gem. 'Le Voyou' would be a good pick as well. One doesn't want to know much about the plot going in, and Claude Lelouch actually turns up in the film to urge viewers to not spoil it for people who haven't yet seen the film.