"And Now My Love" sums up the curious qualities of director Claude Lelouch. While his talents are in abundance he ultimately lacks the ability to pull it off. What has the makings of a classic in the final analysis can only be regarded as a failure.
In a masterly fashion, Lelouch deftly orchestrates the eventual meeting of a man and woman who destiny decrees should be together. It's a romantic notion that has been at the centre of numerous movies, but seldom so wittily and intelligently dished up as in "And Now My Love". The entire movie consists of the winding paths that the protagonists follow until their eventual meeting. Lelouch embroiders this process with historical fact, social criticism and much humor.
However the eventual meeting of the predestined coupling is something of a letdown. The chemistry simply isn't there. When the movie was first released it ended with this somewhat unsatisfactory finale. But despite the ending, the film as whole had enough charm to leave a favorable impression. However Lelouch must have been troubled by the poor resolution to his master work and in what can only be conceived as a desperate measure, he tacks on a truly ludicrous appendage, which instead of salvaging the film, completely sinks it.
His sci-fi ending is a disastrous artistic decision. Anything else would have been preferable. Unfortunately the DVD edition does not allow the option for viewing the edited version. So after well over two hours of much enjoyment one is subject to an ending which leaves a particularly bad taste.
