A Man and a Woman (1966)

Original Title

Un homme et une femme

Genre

Drama, Romance

Director

Claude Lelouch

Country

France

Cast

Anouk Aimée, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Pierre Barouh, Valérie Lagrange, Antoine Sire, Souad Amidou, Henri Chemin, Yane Barry, Paul Le Person, Simone Paris, Gerard Sire, Gérard Larrousse, Clive Roberts

Storyline

The paths of widower Jean-Louis (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and widow Anne (Anouk Aimée) cross when they meet by accident at their children's boarding school. They soon form a friendship that is destined to become a romance haunted by their past tragedies. 

Opinion

I don't like romances and yet there is something about French cinema that just makes me love them. A Man and a Woman is another of those movies. 

A tender, beautiful and charming romantic movie that reminded me a lot of Richard Linklater's movies, specifically the Before trilogy, because it is entirely driven by the dialogue of two characters that are getting to know each other. A dialogue that is both meaningless and meaningful, shallow and deep. This is the reason why A Man and a Woman is so interesting.

Then there is the plot. Or there isn't the plot since it's very simple, very ordinary, it doesn't have any surprise, any suspense. It isn't the typical romance filled with drama or conflict. It is just two people falling in love. There aren't even any real obstacles to their love, but their past dramas. And yet, it manages to be engaging.

And that's on the characters. Beautifully written and developed, the leading characters feel real and very relatable, and yet there's something about them, maybe it's their beauty, that makes them not entirely belivable or real. The great perfomances from Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignat also helped making the characters more intersting as they both portay their characters with tenderness and simplicity and often they don't even need to speak, their glances, facial espressions and body movements are more than enough to express their feelings.

A Man and a Woman also features an outstanding photography that alternates from black-and-white to colour, and a great sentimental score that fits the film to perfection and brings all together.