A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later

Having exquisite memories of the first film, "A Man and a Woman", I looked forward to seeing the sequel, "A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later."

Yes, there were the famous faces and superb actors (Aimee and Trintigant), looking very little the worse for wear; in other words, wonderful. So expressive, both of them, in facial expression, mood expressions and fantastic acting. However, they are in a losing vehicle, with this film. It is so unmoving, that it relies on several subplots to impart to it some action. Hardly fair to two such stellar actors! They deserve better. And the viewer, alas, deserves better. I am, however, grateful for small things - and if seeing those two magnetic characters again thrilled and elated me...what's a plot? Yes, I would recommend it to any viewer who feels as I do about great actors. Just don't look for anything more; simply bask in their respective glows. Hence, my title: A Bittersweet Viewing Experience.

Twenty years after their affair, the promoter of the Paris-Dakar race Jean-Louis Duroc (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is called by the producer Anne Gauthier (Anouk Aimée) to Paris. After producing a movie that was a complete failure in audience, Anne intends to make a movie about their love. Meanwhile, a serial killer escapes from the hospital, and is found dead, together with the wife of his doctor. "Un Homme et Une Femme" is a delightful and charming classic romantic movie. Unfortunately, director Claude Lelouche decided to make this sequel, using the same cast, twenty years later. I do not dare to say that "Un Homme et Une Femme, 20 Ans Déjà" is a bad movie. However, it kills, for example, the magnificent open end of the original movie, showing what has happened with Jean-Louis Duroc and Anne Gauthier along twenty years. Further, there is a parallel story, and many sub-plots that are completely out of the context, mixing a romantic story with a thriller and a drama. Jean-Louis Trintignant aged too much, and Anouk Aimée is still very beautiful and elegant, but the wonderful chemistry between them is completely lost. My vote is seven because there are some good points, mainly the filming of the romance of Anne and Jean-Louis, like a movie-in-a-movie.

Title (Brazil): "Um Homem. Um Mulher: 20 Anos Depois" ("A Man. A Woman: 20 Years Later")

Sometimes Claude Lelouch makes good films or masterpieces, sometimes not at all.

This sequel of "Un homme et une femme" is useless. It's not a bad movie in itself, because it's well acted, well made and very refined -high quality is a trademark in Lelouch movies. That's why I give 4 stars out of 10...

But it's a useless project. Was it necessary to go back to the story and spoil the original picture? The 1966 film is very simple -it's a masterpiece because of that. There are only Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée, the chemistry is incredible. The film is really poetic, we don't want to know how their love story goes on.

In the 1986 sequel we find them 20 years later -Lelouch tells us what they have become and how they meet again. There are other characters and facts which intersect with them.

As I said not a really bad movie, but it doesn't stand comparison at all with the original. It would have been better not to produce it.

I have a copy of this film and I do watch it from time to time. While I don't think it's so horrible, I could definitely do without the whole crazy patient/doctor/murder storyline. The rest of the movie, I like.

It's interesting to see Jean-Louis and Anne interacting with their now grown up children and to see what paths their lives took after their very brief fling. I think the chemistry is still there between them, and I think they actually look like real middle aged people, not the "perfect plastic botox people" that we so often see in today's films...

I gave this film a 8 out of 10 because(despite it's flaws)it was nice to catch up with the lives of Jean-Louis and Anne.

The movie begins badly, with some racing scenes that go on for so long you may start thinking you're watching a James Bond flick. Then it wastes some more time by following the characters in their everyday activities, which are of little interest. But when the couple from "A Man And A Woman' is finally reunited, Lelouch shows that he still hasn't lost his touch when it comes to quiet dialogue scenes, in which expressions speak as loudly as words. And the idea of filming a movie ABOUT the story we saw in the first movie makes for an intriguing re-examination of the original from an unusual perspective - the perspective of the fictional character who starred in it. But Lelouch still can't stay concentrated on the things that really matter, and even when he later introduces a new, completely unexpected story thread (the "adventure" in the desert), he keeps intercutting it with another film-within-a-film, which is boring and pointless. The final impression is that of a film with many good things in it, but also a whole lot of flaws. (**1/2)