A Man and a Woman: Bonafide Classic

 

 

 

A Man and a Woman (1966)

Directed by Claude Lelouch

Les Artistes Associés

102 minutes, Not rated, in French with subtitles

★★★★

 

French actress Anouk Aimée died this past June. If that name eludes you, know that in her prime she was considered one of the most beautiful actresses in the world. (Apparently others thought so too; she married and divorced four times.) Few did melancholia as well as she.

 

Aimée was at the height of her powers when she made A Man and a Woman. Her co-star was another giant of French cinema, Jean-Louis Trintignant. He would go on to have a longer and more distinguished career, but it was Aimée who grabbed most of the accolades in 1966. She was even nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for A Man and a Woman, which was surprising given that very few non-English speakers were so honored back then. As it was, A Man and a Woman did win some hardware (Best Foreign Language Film, Best Screenplay). In other words, we’re talking about a true classic film.

 

The story is deceptively simple. Anne Gauthier (Aimée) and Jean-Louis Duroc (Trintignant) meet at a boarding school in Deauville in which she has a daughter and he a son. She misses her train back to Paris–Anne has a habit of being late–it’s pouring rain, and the school head mistress (Simone Paris) asks Duroc if he would drive her home as he too lives in Paris. That’s a 200 kilometer drive, so the two have plenty of time to chat but they are guarded because they notice each other’s wedding rings. Duroc does offer to drive her to and from Deauville as they each make weekly visits. They soon learn that each is widowed. That uncomplicates things a bit, but the open question is whether either is over their loss. They talk as their children befriend each other and communicate more on their journeys. The head mistress’ sly smile is an indication that she can sees their mutual attraction before they do.

 

It's not a straight line from attraction to the sack. She’s wary because she fixates on her deceased husband–a stunt man killed on the set–and learns that Duroc is a sports car racer, not the world’s safest profession. (That’s after he makes up an outrageous and funny story about an alternative profession!) Slowly, though, they become comfortable with each other. Things come to a head after Duroc is one of the few drivers who finishes the 24-hour LeMans Endurance race during appalling winter conditions.

 

Ultimately, A Man and a Woman has the story arc of a romantic drama in which the principals keep their distance, move closer, come together, and split. Ahh, but do they reunite? That’s one several mysteries in the film. There is also a lot of driving in bad weather (Biblical rain, ice, snow). How bad is the weather? So bad that music of Francis Lai portends danger.

 

Director Claude Lelouch did most of his own cinematography. The effect of water on the windshield is like a black and white version of Taxi Driver, though Lelouch also liked to mix color and black and white. Lelouch paid homage to the European auteur preference of frenetic pacing for action sequences, but a slower, more casual, often diffident dynamic in filming relationships. Both Aimée and Trintignant were magnificent in wielding blank canvas faces upon which was reflected the current status of their interconnections.

 

A Man and a Woman is indeed a bonafide classic. So why not five stars instead of four? That has to do with being made in 1966. It’s often difficult for modern audiences to (metaphorically) time travel. The world of 1966 was very different from today in critical areas such as gender dynamics. Anne Gauthier is a semi-liberated woman for 1966, but you will definitely detect that Jean-Louis Duroc is aggressive to her passive. In addition, some recent viewers have found the film “slow.” Sorry, but no sympathy from me on that score. I loved the way Lelouch contrasted the speed of the race cars with the attract-repel-attract-repel cycle between Anne and Jean-Louis. Only someone indoctrinated by TV and short reels would expect it to be otherwise! It’s easy to sing the virtues of carpe diem, but getting there is a process not a single leap. A Man and a Woman is available on Kanopy and other streaming services.

 

Rob Weir