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This film taps in to love the way we wish it could happen.Girl meets guy by happenstance, the chemistry's incredible, he thinks about her and she thinks about him -- and he doesn't drop her at the first sign of a problem.Director Claude LeLouche works like an impressionist painter here, creating a highly romantic canvas that is backed by one of the best soundtracks ever. Flashing back and jumping forward, and switching between black and white and color, LeLouche creates characters of some depth who are neither entirely realistic nor totally make-believe.I was intrigued to read on Wikipedia that one of LeLouche's films had been decried as misogynistic. I kind of understood upon observing Jean-Louis tell Anne: "It bores women to talk of technicalities. But I can tell you some trivia." The exotic-looking Anouk Aimee is winsome as Anne but needed a better hair stylist. (Was anyone else distracted by her constant efforts to keep her hair out of her eyes? She's even doing it in the movie poster!) The daring telegram she sends to Jean-Louis, after only two platonic outings together, made me gasp, but I suppose that was part of the fantasy here.Jean-Louis Trintingnant does well as the male lead, and it was intriguing to have that bit with his mistress and the racing magazine thrown in, showing that he could be a player just like untrustworthy men in real life.The back stories for this film are also interesting. According to Wikipedia, Aimee went on to marry Pierre Barouh, who plays her tragic husband in the film (they divorced three years later), and the actress, possibly a descendant of Alfred Dreyfus of the "Dreyfus Affair," converted to Judaism later in life. (Barouh had been a "hidden child" during the Naziism of his youth.) Wikipedia also says it was Trintignant who'd suggested Aimee for the role of Anne. Tragically, his own daughter was murdered in her 40s in a case that was controversial throughout France.

Anne (Anouk Aimée) and rally pilot Jean-Louis (jean-Louis Trintignant) meet in Dauville, in Northern France, where their respective children study in boarding school: both widows, they guess to start a relationship, but their past could be an obstacle.Putting aside the programmatic banality of the mushy plot, "Un homme, une femme" is a very interesting film for the way it's written, then filmed, as the image of memory substitutes word, music denies dialog and oppresses the picture (the famous and frivolous theme by Francis Lai), the sudden editing, the freshness of a style that, by color or b&w print, hand camera or frenetic cuts, has been academic as prototype/stereotype of French cinema, and even, years later, a sample for commercials. Style, of course, isn't enough to make happier a schmaltzy and predictable story – where death, as love, is just anecdote –, but Lelouch has done a good job creating a nice compendium of pictures, music, sounds, faces, and drawing a love mythology – kisses, hugs, doubts, thoughts, stations, trains, telegrams, phone calls, car rides, hotel rooms, dilemmas and confusions – which is banal, gratuitous, partial, but incisive and well kept in rhythm.*** out of 5

After so many decades, Claude Lelouch's poetic and romantic 'Un Homme et Une Femme' feels exceptionally refreshing. More so than most romantic films that have released in recent years. Lelouch's execution is very simple. The director had intended to make it an all-colour feature but due to financial constraints, some of the scenes in black and white. Lelouch not only managed to make this work but this itself brings out a certain quality and gives it a unique touch. The cinematography, editing and score are remarkable. 'Un Homme et Une Femme' has a very European, more specifically French (obviously) look that is authentic, pure and certainly adds to the charm of the film. Lelouch and his co-writer Uytterhoeven's writing breathes poetry. The dialogues are of a few words and yet they feel so real, like any normal conversation between a man and a woman. The casting is terrific. A charismatic Jean-Louis Trintignant and a gorgeous Anouk Aimée have a natural chemistry and their sincere performances shine. Even the child actors have done a very good job.Pure, genuine, lyrical, visually dazzling and charming, 'Un Homme et Une Femme' is a fine example of romantic cinema at its best.

A Man and a Woman depicts two ordinary people falling in love in an ordinary way: with little drama, tension or conflict. They simply meet on a chance day and their relationship steadily blossoms from there on. It's predictable, but contains that truth that exists solely in the domain of Art.Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée are perfect in this movie. Each plays their characters with simplicity and tenderness. This is not a deeply psychological movie. These characters exist in the moment, giving themselves to life in the fullest. Perhaps that's why I watched this movie with a smile on my face from the start to finish. Their make this movie so pleasant and seductive. There's never a scene that builds resistance. This movie wants you to fall in love with it. And I think it succeeds.The technical aspects of the movie are perfect too. I loved the cinematography, which alternates from black-and-white to colour. The script is also very good, but not because of its dialogues; in fact the script is great because it tells the story mostly visually. With such two great actors facial expressions are more than enough to display feelings and ideas. But in order not to let silence overtake the movie, Francis Lai has composed one of the greatest scores in cinema for it. Many of the songs in the movie are classics in Europe and my parents, who didn't know the movie, at least recognised the songs from their teen years.Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven have created a masterpiece of cinema, one of its best love stories.