A comment from Watching Movies: French love, with a stylized psychedelia and coldness, innocent and charming.
Watching this movie feels a bit dull because the storyline is so simple. It's about a single mother and a single father befriending and falling in love. But often the best part of love is the process, the more obstacles and bumps in the process, the more troublesome, and the more interesting. However, this movie does not show these obstacles and bumps so obviously, so it will make the audience a little tired of the plot. But the beautiful shots and music are the highlights of the movie.
Two Families
Director Claude Lelouch has a talent for playing with cinematic techniques. Director Claude Lellouche's talent for playing with cinematic techniques is revealed to us during the opening credits of the movie. At the pier, a woman tells a story with her head down: "The little girl took off her clothes and went to bed. The little girl felt a little puzzled because her grandmother was behaving oddly ....." The story itself is a bit odd. But then listen to the next part and you'll realize that it turns out to be the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and when it gets to the point where the big bad wolf eats the little girl, the woman lunges down, and then the camera pulls down and she hugs a little girl - her daughter. This not-so-subtle joke explains the heroine's family, and the appearance of the hero is so funny. The man gets into the car, it's already started, he's still debating whether to go to the golf course or to the race car, a sharp turn, he rushes to jump on the driver, grabs the steering wheel, the camera pans out, and sitting in the driver's seat is actually a little boy, that must be his son. The man and the woman make such an impressive appearance, and the action of their "jumping on the child" also reflects the kind of meticulous licking of their children's feelings.
In the opening credits, we can hear the movie's theme music, "Un homme et une femme," a melodic jazz piece by the master musician Frans Lai. It conveys a signal of love, symbolizing the coming of love, and it appears repeatedly in the movie. The song is popular around the world and has been covered by Japanese singer Lisa Ono. The music is accompanied by a sunset on the beach, which is a beautiful scene in the movie, like an oil painting, which is pleasing to the eye.
The colors of the film are a mix of black and white and color. Originally, because of a lack of funds, some of the shots were shot on black-and-white film, but the director found that the editing was good, so he used it. In this case, I will not explain from what "black and white symbolizes the past, color symbolizes the present" and so on. Besides, the use of black and white and color in the film does not follow any pattern, sometimes things in the past are shot in black and white, while others are shot in color. As for how to analyze, let the smart you to think about it.
Love at First Sight
The movie begins in black and white. The woman's name is Anna. On this day, Anna rushes her daughter to school and then goes to catch the train herself. The man's name is Drucker. He drives up to the school shortly after the woman leaves, drops his son off, and promises to take him sailing next week if he behaves himself. Just as Drucker is about to drive off, Anna shows up, having missed her train and wanting a ride home. Drucker readily agrees. The footage is treated silently, so the audience can't hear the conversation between the two and can only speculate on their relationship by guessing. Recognize? Don't know each other? Pushing the audience to move on. This is similar to the opening credits.
In the car, the two have a long conversation. But the ties that connect their feelings are only two things: children and music. They start by talking about their children's studies and how they're doing in school, both complimenting each other's children, of course. Then Anna turned on the car radio and a comical song came on. Anna laughed at it, and Drucker was laughing too. These two things clearly brought them closer together and made the conversation possible. I'd read in a magazine before that conversations with strangers could start with pets. The two of them seemed to have a good topic of conversation.
Then they got to the question of "marriage". Anna says her husband is a stand-in actor. In her eyes, he's "real, charming and passionate". Her husband once came back from Brazil and became obsessed with samba dancing, and he spent a week singing samba. Her husband can be seen singing whether he is reading the newspaper, washing his hair or eating. The director utilizes a musical treatment to make multiple scenes strung together by the singing in order to show this man's obsessive love for the samba and his lover. One can see that Anna and this man live happily ever after.
Anna's home arrives. Before leaving, Drucker extends an invitation: he is going to Deauville next week and wants to invite her to go and meet her husband on the way. As a result, Anna says that he is dead. Her husband was tragically killed while filming an explosion scene. Drucker rushed to apologize, but Anna didn't mind. As for the invitation on Sunday, she said she'd see if she had time, and Drucker got her phone number.
Showing love for a date
Drucker is a race car driver. He drives his car around the track in a crazy joyride, and he loves it. The camera follows the speeding race cars around the field, accompanied by a roar that gives an exciting sensory experience. On Saturday, Drucker called Anna after racing and asked if she would like to go to Deauville with him. An appointment was made to meet at 9 o'clock. At that moment, a race car was starting up outside, signaling that their love was also ramping up and on track.
Soon the two were in the car, driving to Deauville. The radio in the car starts broadcasting again, and a song called "Love" comes on. This is another ambiguous hint. The announcer said "The weather hasn't been very nice lately, it's been raining all over France, which makes it better for Parisians who want to drive out to the countryside and go on picnics to stay home and play cards and watch movies." Both men laughed, but in their hearts they knew the truth of "drunkenness".
It's fair to say that Anna and Drucker's relationship is progressing quickly. On this day, they each brought their children to the restaurant. The children are an important tool for communication, and their innocent, childlike words make the table a joyful place. However, the director turns his back on the children and focuses only on Anna and Drucker, capturing their subtle expressions. This is both a way to prioritize and a detailed portrayal of the inner workings of the two, which I'm sure will progress more quickly with the children in the picture. At the dinner table, Drucker talks about some of the things he's done as a race car driver, while Anna chats about the actor and the movie. Drucker's hand rests on the back of Anna's chair, a small gesture with obvious intent, arguably the second move after inviting Anna to Deauville. And Drucker's suggestion of a trip to the sea, which now animates the two little ones, who immediately get dressed and move off.
I personally love this sequence at sea. On the bumpy deck, the children lie on the side of the boat, while Anna and Druk look at each other, wanting to say something in the eyes mixed with complex emotions. It's windy, so Anna uses her coat to block the wind to light a cigarette for Drucker. The two little ones are freezing and shrinking into a ball, and Drucker caresses Anna's daughter. And unbeknownst to the two little children, two hands were touching shyly ...... A small boat drifts on an endless sea, and the sky seems to have broken into a large hole through which the sun pours ...... The editing is tight and sharp, linking these movements together in a way that is effective in "saying something beyond words". The scenery and the music are skillfully coordinated to create a dreamlike wonderland of beauty. Through the sea, their hearts are one step closer.
On the beach, a man and a dog walk with a wag. Drucker says to Anna, "Do you know the painter Gakmati? He said: If I was in a fire and had to choose between a Rembrandt painting and a cat, I would save the cat. Between art and life, he said he would choose life." This dialog may seem irrelevant to the film, but it is a reflection on art and life that the director expresses through the actor's mouth.
It seems to be the end
Since Anna is a widow, what about Drucker's family? In the car on the way back, Drucker then tells Anna about his affair with his wife. It was during a car race, Drucker suddenly crashed his car and had an accident, his wife thought he was dead and was so grief-stricken that she sought out the short sword herself. In theory, Drucker's wife should have been killed by the racing sport, but Drucker is still engaged in this dangerous sport, it is really incredible. It's not easy to be the wife of a race car driver, you have to be scared all day long (e.g. The Stormtroopers). And now Drucker is excited to compete in the 35th Monte Carlo Rally.
In the car-racing sequence, the director contrasts the thrill of Drucker's participation in the race with Anna's laid-back life on her own, which emphasizes the tension of the race and doesn't prohibit the audience from worrying about Drucker. At home, Anna is watching live on television when she picks up the phone and tells the operator that she wants to send a telegram to Drucker in Monte Carlo. She was going to send "I saw you on TV." But after much hesitation, she decided to send only three words: "I love you." Anna finally had the courage to say it, and those three short words condensed her lonely love.
Drucker was so excited to receive the telegram that he drove out of Monte Carlo overnight to meet Anna in Paris. Along the way, Drucker engaged in intense mental activity: "To send me a telegram like that must have taken courage. Imagine a woman sending you a man a telegram like that; I never had the nerve to do that. What a charming woman." He assumed many more scenes of his arrival at Anna Thickening, with an uncommonly active mind. Morning came, that melody of "Un homme et une femme" was played, and Drucker was at last at Anna's house. But she was not at home. Drucker drove to Deauville again. At the pier, Drucker looked around, eagerly searching for Anna. At that moment, Drucker suddenly runs. Anna and two children were playing on the beach. Drucker runs up and hugs Anna tightly. The camera circles around them twice, and for a moment, they are the only two people in the world. This scene we've been waiting for so long has finally happened. The happy songs, the happy dogs, the happy children, all are happy for them.
What a happy ending. But no, the director finally gives the "love handicap" at the end of the movie.
That's the end
Next, Anna and Drucker are making love. But Anna can't get rid of the memories of her and her husband playing in the snow and riding horses, and she can't get rid of them. The person in her mind and the person pressing on her body are not the same, and this torment makes her very painful. It is said in East is West that people have too much trouble because they have too good a memory. Anna is in a dilemma because she can't forget the past and can't walk out from the shadow of the past.
After a not-so-pleasant flip-flop, Drucker seemed to have some insight into her mind and asked her if your husband hadn't died, and Anna shook her head. For her, although her husband died, but in her heart lingers.
Anna decided to return to Paris alone. Drucker says nothing, but silently books her ticket and sends her on her way.
Drucker immediately drove back to Paris.
At the Paris station, Anna got off the train and actually saw Drucker. They hugged again and the camera circled around them twice more. The lovers are reunited, transformed into one final silhouette, frozen in that eternal moment. The obstacle is set up a little too simply and without suspense, which may leave the audience without much room for retrospection after watching the movie. But the beauty of the movie is always there, and the simplicity of the plot makes it easy for us to appreciate the overwhelming visual and auditory beauty of the movie, which makes the 100-minute movie not a waste of time.
Caller rating:
Anna and Drucker 4 1/2 stars
Kissing scenes:
One
Love quotes:
1. Anna: "I'm not looking for uniqueness. You find someone, get married and have children. It couldn't be more ordinary. The uniqueness is in the person you love."
2. Drucker: "Do you know the painter Gakmati? He said:
If I were in a fire and had to choose between a Rembrandt painting and a cat, I'd save the cat. ...... Between art and life, he said he would choose life ......"