Ein ganz anderes Leben

The plot is about a rich, famous pianist who falls for a blue collar technician who is way out of her social class as she goes through a crisis in her career and personal life. This is an incredulous story which falls flat on every aspects. To start with, the two lovers don't seem to share anything common in their lives. They display almost zero chemistry in their relationship, either. The guy has a stable life with a pretty girlfriend, with no apparent reason to mess his life and he doesn't portray a type who'd go out of his way to sleep with every woman he meets. Add to that, Joey Starr is too old for his character to make us believe he'd allure two gorgeous woman who look at least 20 years younger. And finally, the twists and turns are simply laughable.

A less successful contribution to what Mouret does best, which is to replicate Rohmer but with more laughs. Instead we have a glum triangle of people making each other miserable, while even the scenery of the Côte d'Azur and the soundtrack of gorgeous music cannot lift the spirits.

Aurore and Jean, the two guilty lovers, are at root dull, revealing no great depths of character outside the need to be in the same hotel room together as often as possible, but Mouret does offer us more life in the person of Dolorès, Jean's betrayed partner. In her we sense the strength of someone who feels abiding love, rather than the easy option of an affair, and is prepared to fight for it, even after using the use of her legs and (echoes of La Duchesse de Langeais) immuring herself in a convent.

Rohmer would agree that a love affair can be greedy, selfish, and cruel to innocent partners. Truffaut would add that it can be just as painful for one or both of the lovers. Mouret excels at showing that it can also be unintentionally ridiculous at times, but here his signature light touch seems to have deserted him.