Description

From director CLAUDE LELOUCH (And Now...Ladies and Gentlemen) comes this 1966 classic, a tender, visually exciting film of revitalizing love: a race-car driver (JEAN-LOUIS TRINIGNANT) and a movie script girl (ANOUK AIMEE) share a romance filled with humor and truth, intertwined with the demands of career and parenthood. Winner of OscarsO for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman) tackles a giant canvas in the sprawling Les Uns et Les Autres, a movie full of brilliant actors and heartfelt moments. To make a coherent whole out of these elements would take a more profound director than Lelouch, however. Following dozens of characters from the 1930s through World War II and into the late '70s, Lelouch struggles to develop a grand theme based on sketchily developed people, all tied together with pop music and Ravel's evocatively used "Bolero." Not surprisingly, the sections dealing with Occupied Paris are the most compelling, with a poignant turn by Nicole Garcia (James Caan and Geraldine Chaplin, each in dual roles, hold down the U.S.-based segments). The film was well-received in Europe, although a cut U.S. release under the title Bolero flopped. If you stick around for the ambitious final sequence, look for an unknown Sharon Stone sitting in bed with Caan. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (2)

worth watching!
This movie takes me back to my childhood memories, with my mother and grandmom watching... i couldn't escape from watching and loving it! Although today i can realize it has some flaws, with a huge cast to support this II world war trough the 70's plot... it get lost a few times. James Caan and Geraldine Chaplin plays double characters which can be confusing. But still a good movie with a grand finale at the eiffel tower!

Very sensitive
This is probably the best Claude Lelouch. It is the story of all these people during the war. Lots of flashback beautiful Bolero de Ravel music. I just LOVED it ! ... Read more

Description

Internationally renowned director Claude Lelouch intimately explores destiny and true love in this romantic delight. Admired by movie lovers around the world, this fascinating film encompasses a variety of filmmaking styles and illustrates the 20th century through the intertwined lives and destinies of three generations. Marthe Keller (Marathon Man) is magnificent in multiple roles, and André Dussollier (Amélie) shines as her soul mate. A film that can be enjoyed again and again, Toute une Vie is fated to be one of your favorites. Academy Award® Nomination: Best Original Screenplay, 1975. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Claude Lelouch may never be the most profound director in the world, but he sure knows how to whip up a catchy distraction. And Now Ladies & Gentlemen finds Lelouch in a skippy, unpredictable mode. Jeremy Irons, who seems to be enjoying himself enormously, is a thief who sets out on a sailing voyage, only to fetch up in Morocco after he blacks out at the helm. There he meets sultry singer Patricia Kaas (her first acting role); it turns out they both might have brain tumors. Did someone say this is a romantic comedy? It is, complete with musical numbers (Kaas glides through a cozy cross-section of French pop music, including the theme from A Man and a Woman, Lelouch's '60s smash). The movie's all over the place, and it spins its wheels for the final half-hour, but there are certain kinds of romantics who will find this sort of thing irresistible. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Love is a dream
I have looked forward to seeing this movie for over a year; ever since I heard Ms. Kaas' music from the movie last summer. I was not disappointed. Jeremy Irons was wonderfully handsome. Patricia Kaas was as beautiful as her voice. I loved the multiple story lines and characters. Claude Lelouch has another winner.

Unbelievable and Exciting
This movie is beautiful and exciting. The songs of Patricia Kaas (I went out and sent for two of her discs as soon as I got home from the theatre)as well as her acting is superb. Jeremy Irons is also excellent. The movie goes back and forth in time but just as I began to consider it was confusing, everything fell into a dynamic place. I only wish this film were in more than limited release. The locales of the film: Morocco and places in Europe were breathtaking. THE MOVIE IS POETRY.

What Is The Dream and What Is Simply A Memory Of The Future?
And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen begins with the following epigraph: "Life is a deep sleep, and love is the dream." With that characterization as his point of departure, Claude Lelouch (who produced, wrote and directed this quiet masterpiece) provides an utterly sophisticated two hour cinematic meditation on all of the subtle ways reality, memory, and dreamlife intersect to create the verisimilitude of the present and a fantasy of what is to come. The narrative for this visually breathtaking excursion into metaphysics and the psychology of love centers on Jeremy Irons as Valentin Valentin (he was born on Valentine's Day), a whimsically inventive jewel thief who relies on disguise and deception to ply his trade. But a large and growing tumour of the brain is playing its own set of tricks on the master illusionist. In a parallel universe Valentin's destiny is tracked by that of a Parisian chanteuse, Jane Lester (Patricia Kaas), who also may be afflicted with a brain mass that is affecting her ability to discern what is real from what is imagined. The two cross paths in Fez at the halfway point of the film as each in their own way runs aground upon the hallucinatory shores of the primitive, light-blasted landscape which is Morocco. And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen is European cinema at its most disarming. Evocative and convincing, the film propels you on a journey you would rather not see come to an end. When Valentin's maritime tour around the world (which had been disrupted by his illness) begins in earnest just as the film is coming to its conclusion, I felt deprived to be left behind.

A Lovely Escapist Venture
Claude Lelouche has once again teamed with Michel Legrand to continue his examination of the vagaries of love in AND NOW LADIES & GENTLEMEN. There is a Gallic magic about Lelouche's view of love that is irresistible and this rather long film journey is no exception. Jeremy Irons is a thief who creates sophisticated heists of jewels by adopting disguises. He is jaunty, loves the beautiful things in life, and decides to spend his won money to sail a yacht on a long-dreamed journey. While at sea he has his first blackout which we later learn is due to a brain tumor. He is taken ashore in Morocco where he encounters a lounge singer (Patricia Kaas) who likewise is subject to blackouts and has strayed to Morocco after the end of an affair with a trumpet player. Together they plan a pilgrimage to a site of healing, but Irons' character is followed by the police for his jewel heists and is captured, is unable to remember his thefts, and finally is diagnosed as having a brain tumor. Postop he reconciles with his singer and makes amends for his life of crime.

As with all of Lelouche's films there are episodes that blur dreamlife with reality and in this film he uses this technique to perfection. Much of what really happens is left to the individual's perception. The settings for this escapade are truly splendid - Morocco has never looked so dreamy, so dramatic, so sun-drenched and inviting. The real joy of this film are the performances of Irons and Kaas and the added pleasure of seeing old (!) faces from the past such as Claudia Cardinale - no longer the beauty she once was! Patricia Kaas is a very fine singer and her renditions of old standards take on new substance in her sensitive interpretations. The only flaw in this film is that it is filmed in both English and French and the dubbing barely matches the subtitles. That is very distracting. But forgive that and you have a film that will let you take flight - lightly as with an elegant French aperitif!

SHEER PLEASURE
We first saw this film in a movie theatre and we were so captivated by it that we ordered the DVD. Granted, Jeremy Irons was my impetus for going to the movie but what a treat to discover Patricia Kaas. Her voice is unbelievably beautiful plus she is a gorgeous chanteuse.

The scenery, especially in Morocco, is beautiful. The minor roles are extremely well cast from a lascivious bartender to a wealthy ladies man. A well written and witty script adds to the enjoyment.

Granted, the ending does seem a mite contrived but what a pleasure it was to get there. ... Read more

Description

As far as best friends go, MAC makes a pretty good one. He has a gentle disposition and a terrific sense of humor. But for new-kid-in-town Eric Cruise, the problem is that no one will believe that his fun new friend even exists. Everyone thinks it's all science fiction until MAC comes out of hiding and takes Eric, his family, his neighborhood and his world on a fantastical journey that will transform their lives…forever! ... Read more