As I mentioned in my forthcoming review for Claude Lelouch’s 1966 romantic landmark A Man and a Woman, it’s a chic film infused with amazing experimental direction, adult dialogue, incredible chemistry between its stars Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Francis Lai’s influential score. It’s also a realistic portrayal of how the grief of the past shapes the grief of the present.
Buy A Man and a Woman (Criterion Collection)Aimee and Trintignant (in career-best performances) are script supervisor Anne and race car driver Jean-Louis, who first meet at the boarding school that both of their children attend. They instantly fall for each other and share many sensibilities. However, considering they’re both widowers, they are obviously haunted by the loss of their spouses: Anne’s husband died in a freak accident while on set, and Jean-Louis’ wife committed suicide. In this case, their grief threatens to undo their newfound relationship.
The film expertly jumps through time and space, and moves through both color and black-and-white (due to the film’s budgetary limitations) to deliver emotional tension all throughout the film. This is a true cinematic achievement, one that continues to awe those who have to chance to see it. It’s one of the great works of French cinema and a testament to Lelouch’s gifts for romantic storytelling.
Making its debut on Criterion, the film contains a wonderful new 2K restoration and some nifty supplements including a new interview with Lelouch, making-of documentary shot on location; archival footage of Lelouch at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival; C’était un rendez-vous (1976), a short film by Lelouch, with a new introduction by the director; and trailers. There’s also a great new essay by critic Carrie Rickey.
If you love and appreciate French cinema, then I think this release should make a solid addition to your collection. You won’t regret this timeless tale of romance tested.
Other notable releases:
The Blade (Criterion): A modern day action classic from 1995 about a one-armed swordsman with a sawed-off sword, seeking revenge on the evil, tattooed kung fu master who murdered his father.
The Man Who Came to Dinner (Warner Archive): A hilarious 1942 classic adaptation of the 1938 stage play starring the great Monty Woolley as a tart-tongued New York radio host who makes a pit stop in a small Ohio town, who wreaks havoc on everyone around him after falling off the icy steps of a well-to-do couple. Also with Bette Davis as Woolley’s unflappable secretary. Read my review.
Salem’s Lot 4K UHD (Arrow): A new edition of Tobe Hooper’s classic miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 bestseller starring David Soul as a novelist who discovers that a vampire (James Mason) has invaded his small New England town.
Ray (Kino): Jamie Foxx embodies the legendary Ray Charles in this Taylor Hackford biopic about Charles’ meteoric rise to fame in the jazz music sense, while dealing with addiction and infidelity.
Somersault Blu-ray (Film Movement): Abbie Cornish stars as a troubled teen who escapes to a ski resort in New South Wales after an inappropriate encounter with her mother’s boyfriend. There she gets a job in a convenience store and flirts with a local farmer’s son (Sam Worthington) with his own demons.
