Above all the memories, there is one with a definite form... mostly in the Love we take to our graves. This love becomes the wellspring of our final images- our reconciliation with longings and regrets. Les Choses De la Vie is centered around a tragedy, an automobile accident.Shot in dazzling slow motion and multiple camera angles, the accident is the Spine on which the Book of Michel (Michel Piccoli) rests. A lot has been mentioned about the simplicity of the story but it is the construction and arrangement of plot elements that leaves a lump in one's throat.A cast that boasts a combined filmography of everyone from Fellini, Tavernier, Antonioni and Demy to Chahine, is the Coup that director Sautet landed. The Film opens with shots of a car in flames, the victim, witnesses and bystanders. The accident is reconstructed in parallel with Michel's life. He is a man of means, a successful architect on the verge of moving to another country. His young mistress Helene(Romy Schneider)wants a house on an island unused by others unlike the one owned by his wife Catherine. Catherine (Lea Massari)is also a colleague who has her own lover. The first hint of searing emotion involves the mention of a favorite family dog, the last the family had. Michel's son Bertrand immerses himself in inventing motorized circuitry that can replace pets in people's homes. What's left between father and son except gratuitous enquiries? This thread is picked up to show a conflict between Michel and Helene at a restaurant. Will Michel chose a vacation with his son over Helene's pressing need to leave the country? Life's like a corvee to work and only a 'young wine that rarely travels' can make up for 32 years of friendship changing for a woman. Michel's love is questioned even as he acknowledges Helene's Physical hold on him. An especially evocative scene involves the engine and the road.. the only true sounds in a difficult silence as they drive back from a party. The lines are pithy and loaded with identity. Sample this.... "You love me 'cause I'm here. You'll be lost if you cross the street." Michel drops Helene off and journeys on, perhaps on an adventure. He has nothing to say because he's still clutching on to civility. The rain brings it all on, the music soars. Michel is lost in his reminiscences. A flood of sweet memories borne from pain, released to counter a new heartache. He tries to undo the showdown with Helene... in solitude, in bitter pain. He tries to explain it in a letter but leaves it unmailed.Self reproach drives him to make a futile call. The rest of the film moves on the light,airy wings of Philippe Sarde's music score. The background assumes various shades as we ride along, passing by a joyous nuptial celebration and culminating in the horrific minutae of the wreck; pulverized steel and a man's life overturned in 5 seconds. The final few frames are like a surreal homage to Michel's being. His subconscious rises as the car burns... a faint murmur to leave behind Life's damages. The victim is like a caged animal, open to interpretations from onlookers. He must resolve to stay awake even as an innocuous Priest chants the last rites. His mind is awake but people can't tell. Regret alarms his soul and brings him back to consciousness, if only for a while. It's not the pain, no mortality can stop a longing soul. But this where the Inner Voice capitulates to the legerdemain of shifting shapes in a dream. The voice rises but once. "...not to live alone," it says. "The Musician has fallen asleep" and the deep gush of the Ocean takes over. P.S. 'The Song of Helene' has an ethereal quality... almost like a fragile Cosmic Thread that holds Michel back on Earth.
21 Reviews
Michel Piccoli as the man at the wheel, but not in command...
ElMaruecan823 May 2021
Pierre Bérard is a man in his forties, a lean and attractively masculine architect exuding self-confidence and that nuanced shade of charisma in gray-flannel suits executive display like a second nature.
On a sunny day in the French countryside near Nantes, a lorry full of pigs is caught in the middle of an intersection; blocking the way to Pierre's car coming at full speed, and with a truck coming in the opposite direction, Pierre can't avoid the head to tail, he veers off the road, hits a tree, spins and turns over and over before being ejected on the grass. The accident lasts less than ten seconds but is treated like a longer interval allowing Pierre to recall all the events that preceded it... and also to tell us that real people don't 'go out' with style and only Sautet's artistic license made a truly engaging character out of a rather ordinary man.
Now, there's more than the "whole-life-flashes-before-eyes" trope, more than the brutality of a sudden accient that the magic of cinema can stretch to a long exhausting hour, itself being the result of ten days of shooting, there's more to it. There's a stylistic decision from Claude Sautet that marks one single event with the stamp of human obsession: like the Golden Palm winner of 1966, "Blow-up" and a mysterious picture or the winner of 1974 "The Conversation" with a mysterious recording, the adaptation of Paul Guimard's novel explores an 'act of God' with the hopeless insistence suggesting that something ever went wrong.
The title gives the unique clue, that's only part of the "things of life".
The film opens with an unscrewed wheel rolling like the last remain of a life in motion. Pierre is lying motionless on the grass, his car already burnt up. Cut to Pierre, lying in bed, with Hélène (Romy Schneider), so much younger we suspect she's not the woman with the ring. There's something about Michel Picolli's physique that makes him strangely more appealing than matinee idol Delon, whose movies with Schneider feel designed to attracts younger audiences. Picolli with his receding hairline, his silvery sideburns, his hairy chest and his naturalness makes the relationship somewhat more relatable.
The intentionally unsubtle transition to the first flashback exposes a naked truth about Pierre's life. The whole accident is shown in slow-motion and intercut with events and incidents set before, getting us close enough to his state of mind during the brief lapse of his accident to seize the irony of his whole life: only when he regained control that he was caught off-guard. In the slow-motion parts, you can see in his face a grim look either out of anticipation of pain, or worse, the realization that he had just broken his "Pot of Milk" like La Fontaine's dairymaid.
Picolli dominates the screen, his chemistry with Helene is believable but there's something so 'definite' about their project to leave for Tunis that it doesn't fool us about Pierre's motivation. He's got a life besides Hélène: a job, a friend (Jean Bouise), a gifted son (Gérard Lartigau) who manufactures electronics gadgets and his ex-wife Catherine (Lea Massari). Every ordinary moment has a sort of casual nonchalance, not interesting in the cinematic meaning, the expositional value would even compromise our interest if it wasn't for Piccoli floating above his own arc with a thinly veiled duplicity.
When he takes an old childhood picture from an old relative or when he has an intimate conversation with ex-wife he grows some complicity, it's like the unexpected activation of the subconscious before something dramatic would happen. And so the flashbacks all build up to the moment where he cancels his holidays with Helene, to spend more time with son. He's evasive in his explanations, with the guilt-ridden expression of a man who can't make the fatal move, I could relate to it. The middle-act weakens the characters but humanizes him in the process.
His chain-smoking isn't even a detail, he smokes so much that IMDb's cigarette count on the Trivia page made me laugh (46, by the way). It's not much the addiction but rather the necessity to plug himself to old habits, the unmovable forces that govern his life without hurting anyone but him.
Another scene shows his first encounter with Helene during an auction, outbidding her for such a futile piece of art it leaves no doubt about her status as the trophy girl. Helene becomes the lighthouse illuminating his second youth, shown through romantic outdoors interludes à la "Love Story", all converging toward the tragic intersection and its nihilistic taste bacK.
Life is a series of random events that constitute our arc, the events that prompted Pierre to write a letter, to retract himself for sending it, to make the final choice, Pierre talking to himself and letting the viewers know the contents of his thoughts, all these things don't amount to much when destiny decides to cut short all our goals and projects.
When Pierre is lying on the ground like Rimbaud's "Sleeper of the Valley", his thoughts are internalized, passing the torch to the more traditional voice-over (that might have inspired the final monologue in "Carlito's Way"). Images aren't set in the past but in a future too idealized to be taken at face value. Indeed, when Pierre's imagination starts, his reality is fading out slowly, becoming the subject of morbid curiosity. The show of life goes on with the anticlimactic spectacle of normality: angry drivers, quarreling couples, policemen, doctors, hospitals and all that jazz.
We're never in total control of our lives, and as one of my friends used to tell me, we spend our life writing the past, not the future, or like John Lennon said, "life is what happens while you're busy making plans" or as LaFontaine said:
When I'm alone, I dare the utmost: [...] Diadems rain down on me.
Some chance event then brings me to my senses, And I'm my lowly self again.
On a sunny day in the French countryside near Nantes, a lorry full of pigs is caught in the middle of an intersection; blocking the way to Pierre's car coming at full speed, and with a truck coming in the opposite direction, Pierre can't avoid the head to tail, he veers off the road, hits a tree, spins and turns over and over before being ejected on the grass. The accident lasts less than ten seconds but is treated like a longer interval allowing Pierre to recall all the events that preceded it... and also to tell us that real people don't 'go out' with style and only Sautet's artistic license made a truly engaging character out of a rather ordinary man.
Now, there's more than the "whole-life-flashes-before-eyes" trope, more than the brutality of a sudden accient that the magic of cinema can stretch to a long exhausting hour, itself being the result of ten days of shooting, there's more to it. There's a stylistic decision from Claude Sautet that marks one single event with the stamp of human obsession: like the Golden Palm winner of 1966, "Blow-up" and a mysterious picture or the winner of 1974 "The Conversation" with a mysterious recording, the adaptation of Paul Guimard's novel explores an 'act of God' with the hopeless insistence suggesting that something ever went wrong.
The title gives the unique clue, that's only part of the "things of life".
The film opens with an unscrewed wheel rolling like the last remain of a life in motion. Pierre is lying motionless on the grass, his car already burnt up. Cut to Pierre, lying in bed, with Hélène (Romy Schneider), so much younger we suspect she's not the woman with the ring. There's something about Michel Picolli's physique that makes him strangely more appealing than matinee idol Delon, whose movies with Schneider feel designed to attracts younger audiences. Picolli with his receding hairline, his silvery sideburns, his hairy chest and his naturalness makes the relationship somewhat more relatable.
The intentionally unsubtle transition to the first flashback exposes a naked truth about Pierre's life. The whole accident is shown in slow-motion and intercut with events and incidents set before, getting us close enough to his state of mind during the brief lapse of his accident to seize the irony of his whole life: only when he regained control that he was caught off-guard. In the slow-motion parts, you can see in his face a grim look either out of anticipation of pain, or worse, the realization that he had just broken his "Pot of Milk" like La Fontaine's dairymaid.
Picolli dominates the screen, his chemistry with Helene is believable but there's something so 'definite' about their project to leave for Tunis that it doesn't fool us about Pierre's motivation. He's got a life besides Hélène: a job, a friend (Jean Bouise), a gifted son (Gérard Lartigau) who manufactures electronics gadgets and his ex-wife Catherine (Lea Massari). Every ordinary moment has a sort of casual nonchalance, not interesting in the cinematic meaning, the expositional value would even compromise our interest if it wasn't for Piccoli floating above his own arc with a thinly veiled duplicity.
When he takes an old childhood picture from an old relative or when he has an intimate conversation with ex-wife he grows some complicity, it's like the unexpected activation of the subconscious before something dramatic would happen. And so the flashbacks all build up to the moment where he cancels his holidays with Helene, to spend more time with son. He's evasive in his explanations, with the guilt-ridden expression of a man who can't make the fatal move, I could relate to it. The middle-act weakens the characters but humanizes him in the process.
His chain-smoking isn't even a detail, he smokes so much that IMDb's cigarette count on the Trivia page made me laugh (46, by the way). It's not much the addiction but rather the necessity to plug himself to old habits, the unmovable forces that govern his life without hurting anyone but him.
Another scene shows his first encounter with Helene during an auction, outbidding her for such a futile piece of art it leaves no doubt about her status as the trophy girl. Helene becomes the lighthouse illuminating his second youth, shown through romantic outdoors interludes à la "Love Story", all converging toward the tragic intersection and its nihilistic taste bacK.
Life is a series of random events that constitute our arc, the events that prompted Pierre to write a letter, to retract himself for sending it, to make the final choice, Pierre talking to himself and letting the viewers know the contents of his thoughts, all these things don't amount to much when destiny decides to cut short all our goals and projects.
When Pierre is lying on the ground like Rimbaud's "Sleeper of the Valley", his thoughts are internalized, passing the torch to the more traditional voice-over (that might have inspired the final monologue in "Carlito's Way"). Images aren't set in the past but in a future too idealized to be taken at face value. Indeed, when Pierre's imagination starts, his reality is fading out slowly, becoming the subject of morbid curiosity. The show of life goes on with the anticlimactic spectacle of normality: angry drivers, quarreling couples, policemen, doctors, hospitals and all that jazz.
We're never in total control of our lives, and as one of my friends used to tell me, we spend our life writing the past, not the future, or like John Lennon said, "life is what happens while you're busy making plans" or as LaFontaine said:
When I'm alone, I dare the utmost: [...] Diadems rain down on me.
Some chance event then brings me to my senses, And I'm my lowly self again.
A center piece in the oeuvre of Claude Sautet
frankde-jong26 May 2020
"Les choses de la vie" is the ultimate "mid life crises" movie. A middle aged man must (but can not) choose between his younger girl friend on the one hand and his ex wife and son on the other hand. As a result he gets irritated and frustrated. He smokes heavily and drives aggressively.
Michel Piccoli wonderfully impersonates this character (Pierre Berard). It was a good choice of television channel "Arte" to select this film in memory of Michel Piccoli, who died in may 2020 at the age of 94.
"Les choses de la vie" also was the film in which director Claude Sautet changed from "crime" to "drama", and especially the drama of the middle class. He so became a sort of French Ozu. But where the middle aged Japanese man above all is interested in the marriages of his daughters (or the lack thereoff), the European middle aged man tries to prove that he is still capable by taking a younger mistress.
Sautet tells the story in a peculiar chronological order. Center piece in the movie is a car accident with Pierre as its victim (after all he was driving aggressively). Just like a stone thrown in the water gives wrinklings moving in ever wider circles, the injured Pierre has memories that go further and further back in time. At the end there is no clear distinction anymore between memories and dreams.
Michel Piccoli wonderfully impersonates this character (Pierre Berard). It was a good choice of television channel "Arte" to select this film in memory of Michel Piccoli, who died in may 2020 at the age of 94.
"Les choses de la vie" also was the film in which director Claude Sautet changed from "crime" to "drama", and especially the drama of the middle class. He so became a sort of French Ozu. But where the middle aged Japanese man above all is interested in the marriages of his daughters (or the lack thereoff), the European middle aged man tries to prove that he is still capable by taking a younger mistress.
Sautet tells the story in a peculiar chronological order. Center piece in the movie is a car accident with Pierre as its victim (after all he was driving aggressively). Just like a stone thrown in the water gives wrinklings moving in ever wider circles, the injured Pierre has memories that go further and further back in time. At the end there is no clear distinction anymore between memories and dreams.
The first link of the bourgeoisie saga.
dbdumonteil12 April 2005
With "les choses de la vie" ,Claude Sautet relinquished his former style ,film noir ("classes tous risques" "l'arme à gauche" both worth seeking)in favor of bourgeois psychological dramas .
"Les choses de la vie" was the first link on the chain,and -with the exception of "Max et les ferrailleurs" (1971),which showed Sautet at the height of his powers,when he came back for a short while to his first inspiration-remains the best of this "cinema de qualité".
Unlike the other works ("Mado" "Cesar et Rosalie" "Vincent,François,Paul et les autres" "une histoire simple" ,etc etc etc) ,"les choses de la vie" has an emotional power and an unusual inventive direction.Editing is stunning (the first picture is one wheel of the car ),and never a car accident was filmed with such mastery.Flashbacks are used with great skill too.The nightmare scene (the wedding) remains very impressive today.And the metaphorical way Sautet uses to depict the hero's death commands respect and admiration.The last part of the movie is almost completely silent,but the strength of the pictures and the actors' talent (Piccoli,Schneider,but Lea Massari and Jean Bouise too)work wonders.Superb score.louis Delluc prize.
Remake :"intersection" featuring Richard Gere.As I cannot say something nice...
"Les choses de la vie" was the first link on the chain,and -with the exception of "Max et les ferrailleurs" (1971),which showed Sautet at the height of his powers,when he came back for a short while to his first inspiration-remains the best of this "cinema de qualité".
Unlike the other works ("Mado" "Cesar et Rosalie" "Vincent,François,Paul et les autres" "une histoire simple" ,etc etc etc) ,"les choses de la vie" has an emotional power and an unusual inventive direction.Editing is stunning (the first picture is one wheel of the car ),and never a car accident was filmed with such mastery.Flashbacks are used with great skill too.The nightmare scene (the wedding) remains very impressive today.And the metaphorical way Sautet uses to depict the hero's death commands respect and admiration.The last part of the movie is almost completely silent,but the strength of the pictures and the actors' talent (Piccoli,Schneider,but Lea Massari and Jean Bouise too)work wonders.Superb score.louis Delluc prize.
Remake :"intersection" featuring Richard Gere.As I cannot say something nice...
Flash, replay, flashback
manuel-pestalozzi1 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the few movies in which I thought I detected a stroke of genius. At the core of it is an automobile accident, filmed from many angles, in close up, from a distance, in slow motion, with natural sound, with music. Then the whole story up to the crash is sort of rewound and played again, interspersed with flashbacks in the flashbacks. As I write this, it all sounds very technical, abstract and arty, but in fact it is deeply poetic. I am someone who is quick to say French movies are generally overpraised, but here everything works so well, is so painstakingly beautiful. Nobody should regard it as spoiler when I tell here that the main character dies in the end but what a way to go!
I can specially recommend this movie to people who like to get off their tobacco habit. All characters smoke continuously, you will get a sore throat without lighting a single cigarette yourself.
I can specially recommend this movie to people who like to get off their tobacco habit. All characters smoke continuously, you will get a sore throat without lighting a single cigarette yourself.
Claude Sautet always Claude Sautet...
shatguintruo20 May 2004
By watching this 1969 movie, I have just confirmed my opinion about Claude Sautet: that's one Director that takes the expectator "inside the scene" (As seen in his latest work: Nelly and Mr.Arnaud). He has this ability that allows him to "extract" the most of his characters in the psychologic aspect, by showing all the range of their feelings...Take the scene where Pierre Berard (portrayed by Michel Piccoli) tells Héléne (played by Romy Schneider) of his sudden decision of no longer accompany her on a trip planned ages ago. Another scene that worths appears in a record as a "Death Scenes Hall of Fame" is the one in which Pierre lays on the grass, his thoughs exposed as the expectator follows him, in all his emotional suffering. Claude Sautet: a Director that deserves having his name written in the "Hall of Fame of the Greatest Directors of All Times". As an "homage" to him, in a scale of 10, I grade this film 9.
Fork in the road
mdefranc3 November 2003
A typical 70's drama, something that still gets its way when it comes to touch that emotional key in us (Or some of us) and makes us long for that passionate love story, without a tragic end of course. Through a filter of pastel tones, Sautet portrays the typical struggle many have put themselves through to fork onto a secondary sentimental route in life, thinking they can have it both ways. Albeit its apparent sappy tone, Les Choses de la Vie is an intense mature story of love and sacrifice, a double one at the end.
I find European dramas very attractive, perhaps because they portray a kind of no-frills passion that is very hard to come across nowadays, both in movies and in reality. A movie like this surely has its clichés, the dual life, the regrets, the tragic death but in this movie Sautet is a wizard in enfolding the viewer with a very bitter-sweet sequence of happy yet solemn flashbacks. Pedro Lazaga's Largo Retorno (1975) happens to be similar in the way the relationship between the two main characters comes to an end (The memories, the sorrow, the death), granted in Les Choses de la Vie there is a three-way story. Both Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider fit perfectly in the above scheme of things.
Just like in Largo Retorno, a very somber yet passionate baroque score complements the entire movie, leaving us with a soggy handkerchief at the end.
I find European dramas very attractive, perhaps because they portray a kind of no-frills passion that is very hard to come across nowadays, both in movies and in reality. A movie like this surely has its clichés, the dual life, the regrets, the tragic death but in this movie Sautet is a wizard in enfolding the viewer with a very bitter-sweet sequence of happy yet solemn flashbacks. Pedro Lazaga's Largo Retorno (1975) happens to be similar in the way the relationship between the two main characters comes to an end (The memories, the sorrow, the death), granted in Les Choses de la Vie there is a three-way story. Both Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider fit perfectly in the above scheme of things.
Just like in Largo Retorno, a very somber yet passionate baroque score complements the entire movie, leaving us with a soggy handkerchief at the end.
So tragic, so brilliant, so French
haasxaar30 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This film opens with the car crash of the main character. He is not dead. The rest of the movie then slowly unravels; we hear his thoughts on love, his wife, society and his life in general.
As it slowly progresses, with a series of flashbacks we see how the last few days of the main protagonist's life have changed his whole existence. Piccoli perfectly captures the sadness and prevents needless sentimentality as he inexorably and gradually descends towards death. He is going through problems with his wife, played by the wonderful Romy Schneider, we see how he feels compromised in his modern lifestyle, and how he feels for his relationship with his son. Sautet places each scene with great skill to create an atmosphere of unavoidable tragedy, of longing and regret. Sautet stays away from cliché and prefers to show each scene in slow-motion without great effects, just to frame the emotion of the moment. The acting is spot on, never overplayed, also understated, and always poignant and effective. This film is Gallic passion at its most powerful.
What is the most important thing in life? What choices are the right ones? Is everything just pointless? What really matters? Sautet made me think long after this film as to what we think about when our life flashes before us. And believe me, you'll be feeling a little emotional yourself when the credits roll up.
As it slowly progresses, with a series of flashbacks we see how the last few days of the main protagonist's life have changed his whole existence. Piccoli perfectly captures the sadness and prevents needless sentimentality as he inexorably and gradually descends towards death. He is going through problems with his wife, played by the wonderful Romy Schneider, we see how he feels compromised in his modern lifestyle, and how he feels for his relationship with his son. Sautet places each scene with great skill to create an atmosphere of unavoidable tragedy, of longing and regret. Sautet stays away from cliché and prefers to show each scene in slow-motion without great effects, just to frame the emotion of the moment. The acting is spot on, never overplayed, also understated, and always poignant and effective. This film is Gallic passion at its most powerful.
What is the most important thing in life? What choices are the right ones? Is everything just pointless? What really matters? Sautet made me think long after this film as to what we think about when our life flashes before us. And believe me, you'll be feeling a little emotional yourself when the credits roll up.
French director Claude Sautet films some small things of life.
FilmCriticLalitRao25 September 2014
French films are famous for their depiction of minor incidents which converge at a larger point to make up the most of what happens in the lives of people. This helps viewers to have a better idea of protagonists' lives. French director Claude Sautet chose to base his film on this premise as he films the personal as well as professional lives of a successful yet unhappy man. From a career point of view, actor Michel Piccoli is shown as somebody doing well in life as he is appreciated by everybody around him. However, his personal life is in turmoil as he is unable to decide between his wife and his mistress. As he is about to solve this dilemma, a tragedy unfolds in his life. This is hardly the description of an original story but what makes the film interesting is how it has been shot. Apart from describing in detail minor incidents related to the lives of protagonists, Claude Sautet has used all his imagination to film the accident scene which occupies a large part of this film's screen space. Finally, once the film is over, some viewers might be tempted to call it the most important moment of the film.
Like Raindrops On Roses ...
writers_reign27 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
... a few of My favourite things are the films of Claude Sautet such as Cesar et Rosalie, Vincent, Francois, Paul et les autres, Nelly et M. Arnaud and The Things Of Life, the film that marked both a change of direction and a maturity in Sautet's career. The premise is hardly original; a man is involved in a car crash and as he nears death his life flashes before him. In other hands this could be maudlin, gauche, embarrassing or all three but writers like Jean-Loup Dabadie (who worked with Sautet on two of the exceptional films he made with Yves Montand, Cesar et Rosalie and Vincent, Francois, Paul et les autres) and directors like Sautet don't do maudlin, gauche, etc and as if the technical credits weren't enough we have actors like Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider to put the icing on the cake. This is one that stands up to repeated viewings.
My rating: 7
kekca23 September 2013
Well, the things of life are not always like this, neither are exactly like this. Maybe for its time this movie was something like documentary and representative for the decade but now it seem to me more like utopia and idealistic. I hurry to tell you why.
Most important, seen from south-eastern point of view the look over the man is strained a lot. He with capital "h" who is not clear with himself is being waited by his wife and son and his newly beloved. Almost deified. And he, in this time he is self-willed and frivolous...
From there on you know what this movie is about. The positive which I want to note is the approach including dreams while he is in coma. The viewer is being rose to the role of a shaman who is asked to interpret them. So, I leave to you the interpretation while I continue with my next critic of ideas in a movie.
http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/
Most important, seen from south-eastern point of view the look over the man is strained a lot. He with capital "h" who is not clear with himself is being waited by his wife and son and his newly beloved. Almost deified. And he, in this time he is self-willed and frivolous...
From there on you know what this movie is about. The positive which I want to note is the approach including dreams while he is in coma. The viewer is being rose to the role of a shaman who is asked to interpret them. So, I leave to you the interpretation while I continue with my next critic of ideas in a movie.
http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/
A movie you can see again and again.
rutel15 December 2001
Yesterday (Dec 15, 2001 I saw "Intersection" (with Richard Gere and Sharon Stone), so, I immediately wanted to see the original and ... there is no place like home. I went to a Blockbuster and, once again, the original is much better. Try to see it and you wont regret
Harlequin romance
hof-422 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The key to the movie: glamour. Pierre (played by Michel Piccoli, impeccably dressed, impeccably coiffed and driving a stylish Alfa Romeo) is a high flying architect fighting for livable, green urban spaces against crass, greedy, garage-bent businessmen. He is separated from, but in good terms with his wife, the glamorous Catherine (Léa Massari) and living with his current love interest, the even more glamorous Hélène (played by Romy Schneider). He met Hélène in the most glamorous of settings, an auction of high end antique furniture in La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast of France. He owns a summer place and a sailing boat in the prestigious Île de Ré in front of the city, and we are regaled with some touristy shots like that of the iconic entrance to La Rochelle's Old Harbor.
After a few lovers spats with Hélène, Pierre has a road accident, emerges gravely but decorously wounded (just a few scratches in the face plus sartorial problems) and dies the perfect Hollywood death on the operating table, with his whole glamorous life parading in front of him. His accident is painstakingly explained and shown again and again from different angles and at different speeds for no obvious reason, and there is a highly contrived shot of a wheel, torn from the car and rolling by itself without any bent metal or other sign of trauma.
On the positive side, cinematography suits the glamour, and music is fine but rather sappy at times as one expects from the tale. The actors use their charisma and do what they can with their frequently trite lines. There is a rather suggestive joke involving Pierre (always smoking) placing his cigarette butt in an ashtray that also contains butts from Catherine new love interest. All in all, not much to show in spite of the Prix Delluc.
After a few lovers spats with Hélène, Pierre has a road accident, emerges gravely but decorously wounded (just a few scratches in the face plus sartorial problems) and dies the perfect Hollywood death on the operating table, with his whole glamorous life parading in front of him. His accident is painstakingly explained and shown again and again from different angles and at different speeds for no obvious reason, and there is a highly contrived shot of a wheel, torn from the car and rolling by itself without any bent metal or other sign of trauma.
On the positive side, cinematography suits the glamour, and music is fine but rather sappy at times as one expects from the tale. The actors use their charisma and do what they can with their frequently trite lines. There is a rather suggestive joke involving Pierre (always smoking) placing his cigarette butt in an ashtray that also contains butts from Catherine new love interest. All in all, not much to show in spite of the Prix Delluc.
About lives
Vincentiu2 May 2007
It is an experience. Rush, subtle, delicate and strange. A form of catharsis and source of restless questions.
It is a beautiful film but not as aesthetic show or as object of loisir. In fact, it is a definition of life, social relations, ambiguity of love and search of happiness beyond classical definitions or Freudian symbols.
In each life important it is pieces of puzzle. The respect for game rules, the science to be the favorite image of the other, the words as sentimental trap, the desire as essence of duty.
For everybody the role of axis in family, society, hate or respect, expectations and illusions is more relevant than interior life. So, the masks are only way to be answer to expectations of other.
It is a splendid film for the acting of Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli.
For the Sautet mark.
For dialogs and lights, for powerful suggestion art, for its message and definition of second life, for atmosphere and delicate art of existence sense discovery. About last hours and projection of lost world. About final silence and about shadows of the others. About structure of hope.
It is a beautiful film but not as aesthetic show or as object of loisir. In fact, it is a definition of life, social relations, ambiguity of love and search of happiness beyond classical definitions or Freudian symbols.
In each life important it is pieces of puzzle. The respect for game rules, the science to be the favorite image of the other, the words as sentimental trap, the desire as essence of duty.
For everybody the role of axis in family, society, hate or respect, expectations and illusions is more relevant than interior life. So, the masks are only way to be answer to expectations of other.
It is a splendid film for the acting of Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli.
For the Sautet mark.
For dialogs and lights, for powerful suggestion art, for its message and definition of second life, for atmosphere and delicate art of existence sense discovery. About last hours and projection of lost world. About final silence and about shadows of the others. About structure of hope.
An excellent drama, if a tad imbalanced
I_Ailurophile10 May 2023
While it's hardly the only film to have ever played with a non-linear narrative, still it takes a little bit to get a grasp on the proceedings as they go back and forth, and requires active viewership. With this in mind the tack is especially useful for 'Les choses de la vie' as at its core the story is relatively simple - simple, but nonetheless engaging and enjoyable. Even setting aside the hops to and fro in time I take issue somewhat with the sequencing insofar as it initially lends to a sense that the picture is having a hard time finding the right tone; I think another imperfection also rears its head in a few instances of dialogue that are better at conveying a broad mood than specifically speaking to characters' relationships or goings-on. For any idiosyncrasies or subjective faults, however, by and large the finished product is quite good - and in fact in the latter half the same sequencing that marks some roughness in earlier scenes is essential in producing the sparks of brilliance in later ones that help to elevate the movie to another level.
Framed in no small part as recollections and flashbacks following an accident, the picture is a loose but calculated portrait of a man figuring out what he wants in life, and the drama and tragedy that upend it. As such the film relies heavily on the strength of Claude Sautet's direction, and even more so on the performances of the cast. The acting is restrained yet characterized by controlled, nuanced range and emotional depth, tact and subtlety that comes across even where voiceover is employed. Michel Piccoli, Lea Massari, and Romy Schneider are all excellent, and audiences would certainly expect no less from them; those in smaller supporting parts are just as swell, though, in breathing life into the tableau. If more significant in select bits and pieces, Jean Boffety's cinematography and even more so Jacqueline Thiédot's editing are terrific, sharp and shrewd in heightening the impact of some moments, or in the latter half being a substantial source of it as the sounds of urgency are painfully contrasted with far brighter imagery.
In all other regards 'Les choses de la vie' is wonderfully well done, including not least the sparing but exquisite original music of Philippe Sarde that lends to the poignancy of the sorry tale. The stunts, effects, and special makeup that dominate in the pivotal car crash are superb, and the feature can claim fantastic production design generally. The costume design, hair, and makeup are lovely across the board. And, yes, I think the writing is uneven in terms of the approximate second half carrying the overwhelming majority of the meaningful weight of the story, while earlier scenes are mildly insufficient to that same end. Be that as it may, more than not the screenplay proves itself over time: characters and the relationships between them are given all the definition they require to round out careful scene writing, and the meticulous construction of the narrative is just as if not more important than the beats themselves to letting its gravity ring out. The film may not be flawless, but for what it does well, it more than compensates for any perceived issues.
When all is said and done the title is more compelling and satisfying than I was ready to give it credit for at first; the value may be primarily shifted to the back end, but it's very much worth it. All the same I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that Sautet's movie is an outright must-see, unless perhaps one is a big fan of someone involved - but it still stands as a fine testament to the skills and intelligence of all on hand. Well made all around, ultimately the writing and editing actually leap out just as much as the acting and direction does from the get-go, and marginal imbalance is easily forgiven. If you have the chance to watch, 'Les choses de la vie' is a great drama that's worth checking out.
Framed in no small part as recollections and flashbacks following an accident, the picture is a loose but calculated portrait of a man figuring out what he wants in life, and the drama and tragedy that upend it. As such the film relies heavily on the strength of Claude Sautet's direction, and even more so on the performances of the cast. The acting is restrained yet characterized by controlled, nuanced range and emotional depth, tact and subtlety that comes across even where voiceover is employed. Michel Piccoli, Lea Massari, and Romy Schneider are all excellent, and audiences would certainly expect no less from them; those in smaller supporting parts are just as swell, though, in breathing life into the tableau. If more significant in select bits and pieces, Jean Boffety's cinematography and even more so Jacqueline Thiédot's editing are terrific, sharp and shrewd in heightening the impact of some moments, or in the latter half being a substantial source of it as the sounds of urgency are painfully contrasted with far brighter imagery.
In all other regards 'Les choses de la vie' is wonderfully well done, including not least the sparing but exquisite original music of Philippe Sarde that lends to the poignancy of the sorry tale. The stunts, effects, and special makeup that dominate in the pivotal car crash are superb, and the feature can claim fantastic production design generally. The costume design, hair, and makeup are lovely across the board. And, yes, I think the writing is uneven in terms of the approximate second half carrying the overwhelming majority of the meaningful weight of the story, while earlier scenes are mildly insufficient to that same end. Be that as it may, more than not the screenplay proves itself over time: characters and the relationships between them are given all the definition they require to round out careful scene writing, and the meticulous construction of the narrative is just as if not more important than the beats themselves to letting its gravity ring out. The film may not be flawless, but for what it does well, it more than compensates for any perceived issues.
When all is said and done the title is more compelling and satisfying than I was ready to give it credit for at first; the value may be primarily shifted to the back end, but it's very much worth it. All the same I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that Sautet's movie is an outright must-see, unless perhaps one is a big fan of someone involved - but it still stands as a fine testament to the skills and intelligence of all on hand. Well made all around, ultimately the writing and editing actually leap out just as much as the acting and direction does from the get-go, and marginal imbalance is easily forgiven. If you have the chance to watch, 'Les choses de la vie' is a great drama that's worth checking out.
« F...ing truck » (tv)
leplatypus5 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
My title is borrowed from an album composed by the famous french singer Renaud who dedicated it in memory of his late friend, the famous french humorist and actor, Coluche who faced the same fate than the one depicted in the movie. In a way, the title of the movie says it all with wisdom: « the facts of life ». So, it's true: accidents happen , it's sad, it's meaningless, it's always too soon but we better accept this threat and live with it back in the mind. For example, i knew a young coworker who died suddenly in the office from a heart attack and in a way, it motivates me to leave my studio clean and to shower neatly every day as i wouldn't like to leave the feeling i lived as a pig if i had to go prematurely.
In addition, the movie is a positive illustration of my « FFM » rule, exposed in my last review. Here, those « first five minutes » are clearly interesting and give the urge to see what happens. Sure, like « Carlito's way », you know at first how the movie will (almost) end but this premonition adds however a lot to the drama. It's all the more gripping that time is really distorted in the movie : it's slow, fast-forwarded, back to the past or to the future.
At last, released in 1970, you can notice that french society was stricter then (for example, the law to free divorce was voted 5 years later !) and the charm of this old movie is that the cast is taken for granted : in other words, I just watch them for what they do on screen. Then, acting artists weren't polluted by promotions, selling images, pseudo social commitment or private life news. It's all the more essential that Romy is full of sensibility and Piccoli has a great stature too.
In addition, the movie is a positive illustration of my « FFM » rule, exposed in my last review. Here, those « first five minutes » are clearly interesting and give the urge to see what happens. Sure, like « Carlito's way », you know at first how the movie will (almost) end but this premonition adds however a lot to the drama. It's all the more gripping that time is really distorted in the movie : it's slow, fast-forwarded, back to the past or to the future.
At last, released in 1970, you can notice that french society was stricter then (for example, the law to free divorce was voted 5 years later !) and the charm of this old movie is that the cast is taken for granted : in other words, I just watch them for what they do on screen. Then, acting artists weren't polluted by promotions, selling images, pseudo social commitment or private life news. It's all the more essential that Romy is full of sensibility and Piccoli has a great stature too.
Tragedy In the bourgeoisie
atala6724 May 2020
[7.8] Wife and lover - two mangled hearts
cjonesas28 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Fans of Romy Schneider will come to this film and in the process of rediscovering her uncanny beauty, get acquainted with a wonderful (art-wise) and dramatic production from Claude Sautet, and I knew nothing about him till now!
The story is simple, played superbly (more by Romy Schneider than Michel Piccoli), told, developed and remembered in a backward non-linear motion, the style of which reminds me as the one used (though more simple and diluted in this one) by Gaspard Noé 's 'Irreversible'.
The visual effects of the crash are stunning for 1970 as are the unimaginable number of cigarettes smoked throughout the movie by nearly everybody every 10-20 seconds literally! And Michel Piccoli lived a long healthy life 6 years shy of his 100 birthday.
As with all foreign productions, better to watch in the original language with subtitles
Writers Sandro Continenza, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Paul Guimard and especially the music and score by the famous composer Philippe Sarde are worth mentioning.
Is it me or old movies bear that kind of simplicity, magic and quality that are not felt and sensed with most of nowadays productions.
The story is simple, played superbly (more by Romy Schneider than Michel Piccoli), told, developed and remembered in a backward non-linear motion, the style of which reminds me as the one used (though more simple and diluted in this one) by Gaspard Noé 's 'Irreversible'.
The visual effects of the crash are stunning for 1970 as are the unimaginable number of cigarettes smoked throughout the movie by nearly everybody every 10-20 seconds literally! And Michel Piccoli lived a long healthy life 6 years shy of his 100 birthday.
As with all foreign productions, better to watch in the original language with subtitles
Writers Sandro Continenza, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Paul Guimard and especially the music and score by the famous composer Philippe Sarde are worth mentioning.
Is it me or old movies bear that kind of simplicity, magic and quality that are not felt and sensed with most of nowadays productions.
- Screenplay/storyline/plots: 7.5
- Development: 8.5
- Realism: 8
- Entertainment: 8.5
- Acting: 8.5
- Filming/photography/cinematography: 8
- VFX: 8.5
- Music/score/sound: 8.5
- Depth: 7.5
- Logic: 6.5
- Flow: 7.5
- Drama/romance: 7
- Ending: 7.
Very poor script which seems to owe its cult following to how quintessentially French this is
Brandon_Marlo19 January 2021
The 70s Frenchness of this cannot be overstated: wall-papered interiors, old motor cars, retro designs, white helmet-wearing motorbike gendarmes and enough smoking to give you cancer just from watching it.
There's also no denying this is a very well made film. It looks gorgeous and the soundtrack is addictively nostalgic.
Alas the plot, dialogues and characters are *extremely* limited and barely get the movie off the ground. The lack of depth of characters is probably the worst offence in this picture. They are utterly unrelatable, not believable and the viewer feels no sympathy nor antipathy towards them. They are as believable as cardboard cutouts of themselves. Therefore, the main protagonist's dilemma, not knowing whether to stay with his mistress or his wife, his reminiscence of fond memories, wife, places and children, are of no effect whatsoever. That is the failure of this picture which could have been great had someone bothered to worry about the script rather than the style.
There's also no denying this is a very well made film. It looks gorgeous and the soundtrack is addictively nostalgic.
Alas the plot, dialogues and characters are *extremely* limited and barely get the movie off the ground. The lack of depth of characters is probably the worst offence in this picture. They are utterly unrelatable, not believable and the viewer feels no sympathy nor antipathy towards them. They are as believable as cardboard cutouts of themselves. Therefore, the main protagonist's dilemma, not knowing whether to stay with his mistress or his wife, his reminiscence of fond memories, wife, places and children, are of no effect whatsoever. That is the failure of this picture which could have been great had someone bothered to worry about the script rather than the style.
about life
Kirpianuscus15 October 2022
I loved the novel . And I was seduced by the film. Because it represents more than a good adaptation.
First, it is a beautiful new demonstration of the art of Claude Sautet to explore facts behind the silence veil, from the complexity of relation to the vulnerabilities and certitudes, the basic traits of bourgeous life and the spirit of family, the loneliness and the game of apparences.
Second, for the great acting .
Not the last, for the powerful scenes, the most intense remaining the wedding and the ship ignoring him. Romy Schneider is just admirable in each scene, few of them reminding The assasination of Trotsky.
More than a good adaptation, it is a poem about essence of life, about regrets, decissions and force / meanings of love. And , sure, about the cold plus tard.
One of the most impressive virtues, the scenes of accident , splendid because, reading, years ago, the novel, I believed than that scenes are impossible to be proposed by a film . But, I ignored the gifts of a Claude Sautet.
First, it is a beautiful new demonstration of the art of Claude Sautet to explore facts behind the silence veil, from the complexity of relation to the vulnerabilities and certitudes, the basic traits of bourgeous life and the spirit of family, the loneliness and the game of apparences.
Second, for the great acting .
Not the last, for the powerful scenes, the most intense remaining the wedding and the ship ignoring him. Romy Schneider is just admirable in each scene, few of them reminding The assasination of Trotsky.
More than a good adaptation, it is a poem about essence of life, about regrets, decissions and force / meanings of love. And , sure, about the cold plus tard.
One of the most impressive virtues, the scenes of accident , splendid because, reading, years ago, the novel, I believed than that scenes are impossible to be proposed by a film . But, I ignored the gifts of a Claude Sautet.
Brilliant editing for trivial, sad story
dierregi6 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The best thing about this movie is the brilliant editing of a crucial road accident that is shown at the start. Then time moves backward and we see what happened in the few days leading to the accident. Finally, we see the accident happening in slow motion and in regular time frame.
This is one of those rare cases in which the jumping in time actually makes sense and it is necessary to develop the narrative. The plot itself, apart from the skilled technique, is pretty banal and the dialogues are sparse and banal as the story it narrates.
Pierre is a professional man who dumped his - still attractive - wife for a younger model, but he is having doubts. Hélène, Pierre's young lover is the beautiful Romi Schneider and it is easy to see why Pierre lost his head. Not so much why she fell for him.
Pierre, played by Piccoli, is a middle-aged, old fashioned, verbally unskilled man, whose chain-smoking almost made me sick (all the other characters also smoke like crazy). Anachronistic for our times, but I guess perfectly normal for the 70s, Piccoli's is shown several time shirtless, sporting exceedingly hairy chest and shoulders.
Could be Pierre is only "in lust", but he's reticent to admit it. Besides, Pierre also feels guilty for neglecting his young adult son and for the financial troubles his separation is causing. Nothing new under the sun. Unfortunately, the resolution of his dilemma will be tragic.
This is one of those rare cases in which the jumping in time actually makes sense and it is necessary to develop the narrative. The plot itself, apart from the skilled technique, is pretty banal and the dialogues are sparse and banal as the story it narrates.
Pierre is a professional man who dumped his - still attractive - wife for a younger model, but he is having doubts. Hélène, Pierre's young lover is the beautiful Romi Schneider and it is easy to see why Pierre lost his head. Not so much why she fell for him.
Pierre, played by Piccoli, is a middle-aged, old fashioned, verbally unskilled man, whose chain-smoking almost made me sick (all the other characters also smoke like crazy). Anachronistic for our times, but I guess perfectly normal for the 70s, Piccoli's is shown several time shirtless, sporting exceedingly hairy chest and shoulders.
Could be Pierre is only "in lust", but he's reticent to admit it. Besides, Pierre also feels guilty for neglecting his young adult son and for the financial troubles his separation is causing. Nothing new under the sun. Unfortunately, the resolution of his dilemma will be tragic.
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