The Things of Life (1970)

in its small aspects. as the traits of an accident. as choices and happy days and love and expectations and miracles and secrets and summer days and bicycle ways and smiles and words and choices. a film like others by Claude Sautet. a film like many others from French cinema. the difference - the special chemistry between Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli. this is the detail who does difference. and impose a special flavor to a simple and ordinary story.

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.

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.

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