Released in 1966, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch’s Un homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman) story of two people finding love after profound loss, was a major success, winning the Grand Prize at Cannes, and winning Oscars for Best Foreign Film and Best Screenplay and still stands as a romantic classic sixty years after its initial release.
Every weekend race car driver Jean-Louis (Jean-Louis Trintignant) travels from Paris to Deauville to visit his young son Antoine at boarding school; script supervisor Anne (Anouk Aimée) does the same to visit her young daughter. One wintry Sunday, Anne misses the last train back to Paris and she accepts a ride from Jean-Louis. Sparks fly almost immediately, but both say they’re married, and are wearing their rings. Eventually, they reveal that both their partners have passed away. Anne’s stuntman husband died while shooting a war movie, while Jean-Louis’s wife committed suicide three years earlier.
After getting to know each other on the drive, Jean-Louis suggests they travel together next weekend; Anne agrees. Both haunted by the past, the second half of the film ponders whether they are ready to embrace the future or stay in the past. Even as the two characters deal with emotional adversity, the film has lightness to it that makes the characters easy to relate to, and root for.
Having hired Jean-Louis Trintignant as the male lead, director Lelouch wisely took his advice and hired Anouk Aimée as the female lead. The success of A Man and a Woman rests on the natural chemistry between the two actors. Every time they look at each other, you can feel the spark between them. Watching them as their characters go through the process of falling in love is a delight. Aimée won a Golden Globe for Best Actress – Drama.
Francis Lai’s score was written and recorded before the film was made, and Lelouch used it to inspire his actors, perhaps that’s why the music feels like it rises and falls with the two leads emotional ups and downs.
Cited as a “new 2K digital restoration supervised and approved by Claude Lelouch,” A Man and a Woman is framed in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. It does a wonderful job of capturing the mix of color/black-and-white/sepia footage with the Normandy landscapes. The drab, teal coloring looks livelier than ever before. Clarity and depth are stunning throughout. Detail has been notably enhanced and subtle textures are evident. Colors are warmer and a light grain are in evidence, adding to the romantic feel of the proceedings. There are no apparent scratches or other visual anomalies.
The uncompressed monaural soundtrack in the original French language offers a faithful, warm listening experience. Ambient sounds are clear, and Francis Lai’s iconic score mixes nicely with the clear and concise dialogue throughout.
English SDH subtitles are included.
The Following extras are available:
- New interview with Lelouch (23:33) The director offers his insights on the film and discusses its continuing appeal.
- Making-of documentary shot on location (22:41) Shot on location during filming, this documentary provides a look behind-the scenes.
- Archival footage of Lelouch at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival (11:28)
- C’était un rendez-vous (1976), a short film by Lelouch (9:01), with a new introduction by the director (2:46)
- Trailers (1:25 / 1:50)
- An essay by critic Carrie Rickey