A Man and a Woman

Released Jul 12, 1966

1h 42m

Romance

List

75%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

87%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Jean-Louis (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a widower who has become a single father after his wife's suicide, and Anne (Anouk Aimée) is a widow and single mother still reeling from the accidental death of her husband. When the two cross paths at their children's boarding school, both are wary, but they soon form a friendship that is quickly charged with romance. Yet the pair continue to struggle to overcome their past tragedies as they try to begin a new relationship.

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Anthony Quinn

Independent (UK)

Advertising, if not cinema, colonised these images long ago. Yet how to resist a pairing as photogenic as Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant?

Apr 1, 2019

Full Review

Don Druker

Chicago Reader

It's full of misty romps in the meadows, rain-soaked windshields, assorted puppies and lambs, and a 'bittersweet' theme song that drones incessantly on the sound track.

Jan 15, 2008

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Anouk Aimee has a mature beauty and an ability to project an inner quality that helps stave off the obvious banality of her character, and this goes too for the perceptive Jean-Louis Trintignant as the man.

Jan 15, 2008

Full Review

Wendy Michener

Maclean's Magazine

Failing to find the words to resolve this situation, Lelouch leaves the rest of his story to his songwriters, and, predictably, the picture sinks into the sticky swamp of adolescent lovisms.

Jun 27, 2019

Full Review

Lisa Nesselson

France24

This rightfully holds a special place in the hearts of filmgoers everywhere.

May 31, 2019

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Enjoyable slick soap opera romance that did a big box office despite its superficial strains.

Rated: B

Jun 7, 2012

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Georgan G

Second time viewing, I still found little of value to me. Just two people who dump their young children into boarding school, lead glamorous lives, and think they might be in love. Soap opera filled with nothing believable. There's another film that added "20 years later" which shows it WAS only a fling & a final one that is about, apparently, regret. No thanks, one bad French film is enough.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/11/23

Full Review

steve d

As generic as its name.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

david l

A Man and a Woman is a solid, but deeply troublesome film that is ultimately a quintessential example of style over substance. It has a great and interesting premise that is unfortunately well utilized only in its couple of scenes, the flashback structure is quite off-putting at times and the dialogue and characters are never as great as they needed to have been. The cinematography is magnificent as is the score and the ending is definitely beautiful, but the entire film is inherently flawed and in the end overrated.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

My campus library was giving away VHS tapes for free in order to make room, so when I came upon "A Man and A Woman" I was rather interested, especially after it won the Palme d'Or and 2 Oscars (for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay). After watching it, I really enjoyed the overall sentimental feel of the film: the characters (Anouk Aimée was nominated for Best Leading Actress), the story, the direction by Claude Lelouch (who was nominated for Best Director), and the music; the filming techniques of the film were great and unique, too (switching between color, black-and-white, and monochrome). "A Man and A Woman" is one of the best Romance films I've seen (next to - in my opinion - "Gone With the Wind", "Casablanca", "The Bridges of Madison County", "Titanic", "Eyes Wide Shut", and "9 1/2 Weeks")! An outstanding film that should be seen; this is how romance films should be!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The plot isn't unique or even interesting really, but Lelouch is able to turn a simple story into something touching through some lovely shot making and a sentimental musical score. Its realism and believability is what makes it so relatable. Love often is complicated.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Man: for what reason did u say me your husband was dead? Woman: because he is, but not yet for me"

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Claude Lelouch

Director

Anouk Aimée

Anne Gauthier

Jean-Louis Trintignant

Jean-Louis Duroc

Pierre Barouh

Pierre Gautier

Valerie Lagrange

Valerie Duroc

Simone Paris

Head Mistress

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90%

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55%

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57%

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79%

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Summer of '42

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Synopsis

Jean-Louis (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a widower who has become a single father after his wife's suicide, and Anne (Anouk Aimée) is a widow and single mother still reeling from the accidental death of her husband. When the two cross paths at their children's boarding school, both are wary, but they soon form a friendship that is quickly charged with romance. Yet the pair continue to struggle to overcome their past tragedies as they try to begin a new relationship.

Director: Claude Lelouch
Screenwriter: Pierre Uytterhoeven
Distributor: Allied Artists Pictures
Production Co: Les Films 13
Genre: Romance
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 12, 1966, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 11, 2015
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Mono

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