A Man and a Woman (1966)

A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme)
Directed by Claude Lalouch
Written by Pierre Uytterhoeven
1966/France
Les Films 13
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant

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.

Always a treat to see true love develop between two beautiful people accompanied by a great soundtrack.

Anne Gautier (Anouk Aimee) is a script supervisor with a young daughter.  Jean-Louis Duroc (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a race car driver with a young son.  Both have lost a spouse. Their children attend the same boarding school and are already friends..  One Sunday, Jean-Louis offers Anne a ride home from the school.  The two hit it off immediately.

Anne seems still to be in love with her dead husband.  Gradually and tentatively, the two try to get closer.

This grown-up romance is beautiful to look at and Francis Lai’s score is iconic.  Love the actors.  It left me with a warm feeling.

I kept wondering what the constant transitions between B&W and color symbolized.  Turns out Lalouch simply couldn’t afford to shoot the whole thing in color!

A Man and a Woman won Academy Awards for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen.  It was nominated in the categories Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.