A Man and a Woman () is a 1966 French romantic drama film directed by Claude Lelouch and starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Written by Pierre Uytterhoeven and Lelouch, the film concerns a young widow and widower who meet by chance at their children's boarding school and whose budding relationship is complicated by the memories of their deceased spouses. The film is known for its lush photography, which features frequent segues among full color, black-and-white, and sepia-toned shots, and for its music score by Francis Lai.
A Man and a Woman sold a total of 4,272,000 cinema tickets in France and was the sixth highest-grossing film of the year. In the United States, the film grossed $14 million. two Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress – Drama (for Aimée), and two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay. It was followed by two sequels, A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (1986) and The Best Years of a Life (2019).
Plot
A young widow, Anne Gauthier, is raising her daughter Françoise alone following the death of her husband, who worked as a stuntman and died in a film set accident that she witnessed. Still working as a film script supervisor, Anne divides her time between her home in Paris and Deauville in northern France, where her daughter attends boarding school. A young widower, Jean-Louis, is raising his son Antoine alone following the death of his wife Valerie, who committed suicide after Jean-Louis was in a near-fatal crash during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Still working as a race car driver, Jean-Louis divides his time between Paris and Deauville, where his son also attends boarding school.
One day, Anne and Jean-Louis meet at the Deauville boarding school after Anne misses the last train back to Paris. Jean-Louis offers her a lift, and the two become acquainted during the drive home, enjoying each other's company. When he drops her off, he asks if she would like to drive up together the following weekend, and she gives him her phone number. After a busy week at the track preparing for the next race, Jean-Louis calls, and they meet early Sunday morning and drive to Deauville in the rain. Clearly attracted to each other, they enjoy a pleasant Sunday lunch with their children, who get along well. Later that afternoon, they go for a boat ride followed by a walk on the beach at sunset.
Jean-Louis spends the following week preparing for and driving in the Monte Carlo Rally in southeast France. Every day, Anne closely follows news reports of the race, which takes place in poor weather conditions along the icy roads of the French Riviera. Of the 273 cars that started the race, only 42 were able to finish, including Jean-Louis's white Ford Mustang, number 145. Watching the television coverage of the conclusion of the race, Anne sends Jean-Louis a telegram that reads, "Bravo! I love you. Anne."
That night at a dinner for the drivers at the Monte Carlo Casino, Jean-Louis receives the telegram and leaves immediately. He jumps into the other Mustang (number 184) used during the race and drives through the night to Paris, telling himself that when a woman sends a telegram like that, you go to her no matter what. Along the way, he imagines what their reunion will be like. At her Paris apartment, Jean-Louis learns that Anne is in Deauville, so he continues north. Jean-Louis finally arrives in Deauville and finds Anne and the two children playing on the beach. When they see each other, they run into each other's arms and embrace.
After dropping their children off at the boarding school, Jean-Louis and Anne drive into town where they rent a room and have passionate sex. While they are in each other's arms, however, Jean-Louis senses that something is not right. Anne's memories of her deceased husband are still with her, and she feels uncomfortable continuing. Anne says it would be best for her to take the train back to Paris alone. After dropping her off at the station, Jean-Louis drives home alone, unable to understand her feelings. On the train, Anne can only think of Jean-Louis and their time together. Meanwhile, Jean-Louis drives south through the French countryside to the Paris train station, just as her train is arriving. As she leaves the train, she spots Jean-Louis and is surprised, hesitates briefly, and then walks toward him, and they embrace.
Cast
Production
Story and script
According to director Claude Lelouch, the story originated from an experience following his disappointment trying to get a distribution deal for his film The Grand Moments. As was his habit during troubling times, he went for a long drive and ended up on the shore at Deauville at 2:00 am. After a few hours sleep in the car, he was awakened by the sunrise and saw a woman walking on the beach with her daughter and a dog. This sparked his creativity which led to the story and script which he co-wrote with Pierre Uytterhoeven within a month.
The title may have come from a line in the film, where Jean-Louis and Anne are listening to the news on the radio driving in a fast Ford Mustang and a commentator says, "A man and a woman have just died after skidding in a powerful car". This leads to a discussion about how well he is driving and Anne commenting "you are average".
Casting
A key casting decision for Lelouch was Jean-Louis Trintignant:
For the female lead, Trintignant asked Lelouch who his ideal woman would be, and Lelouch indicated Anouk Aimée, who had appeared in Fellini's films La Dolce Vita (1960) and 8½ (1962). Trintignant happened to be a close friend of hers and told him to call her. When he did, she accepted without reading the script. Although early disagreements and the low-budget skeleton crew caused initial tension between the director and actress, they quickly resolved their differences and the two went on to become close friends.
The film was shot, among others, in Paris, Monte Carlo and Deauville. The love scene was shot in the Hotel Barrière Le Normandy Deauville which, in memory of the film, has a suite entitled "A Man and a Woman".
Reception
Box office
The film earned theatrical rentals of $4.6 million in the United States and Canada and $4 million internationally during its initial theatrical release. It played for 83 weeks in Boston, 73 weeks in Syracuse and 61 weeks in Seattle.
It was the sixth most popular film at the French box office in 1966, after La Grande Vadrouille, Dr Zhivago, Is Paris Burning?, A Fistful of Dollars and Lost Command.
Critical response
Upon its theatrical release in the United States, A Man and a Woman received mostly positive reviews. In his New York Times review, Bosley Crowther wrote: "For a first-rate demonstration of the artfulness of a cameraman and the skill at putting together handsome pictures and a strongly sentimental musical score, there is nothing around any better than Claude Lelouch's A Man and a Woman". Crowther lauded the "beautiful and sometimes breath-taking exposition of visual imagery intended to excite the emotions" and praised the director for his ability to create something unique from the commonplace: