Vivre pour vivre

Yves Montand is a documentary film maker married to Annie Giradot. He cheats on her. He begins an affair with American model Candice Bergen and takes her along on a shoot in the Uganda and crosses the border to interview the men at a training camp for mercenaries. When they return to Paris, she wants him to tell Mlle Giradot, but he says he needs time to disengage.

Claude Lelouch's follow-up to A MAN AND A WOMAN is about the ability of love to survive when one of the partners is in a job at once exciting and frustrating, and whether it is love at all. Lelouch alternates between his principals engaging with each other -- although Montand gives a performance in which he seems to be acting all the time -- and montages: war footage, African wildlife, the aftermath of a battle in Viet Nam,Montand and Giradot after their breakup, with Lelouch's longtime collaborator Francis Lai doing the score.

Mlle Giradot offers a fine performance, as does Montand. Miss Bergen is not so engaging, although that may be a deliberate choice.

Yves Montand is a reporter who used to travel to in-war places during the 60s. Due to long periods of home absence without his wife he usually had other love stories. In this routine he met (Candice) Candice Bergen whom he fell in love immediately. His wife (Annie Girardot) finally perceived the way he ignored and lied her. All this compelled her to live her own life and finally leaving his husband alone. There is a Spanish proverb: `One never knows what one has until it is lost' and this is the end of the reporter.

Vivre pour vivre is a great movie. Under the direction of Claude Lelouche, Yves Montand was at his best. The music of Francis Lai, music writer of "Un homme et une femme", "Love Story" among other famous movies wrote a music melody for each of the main actors of the movie. The moments of silences when accompanied by the photography and the music tell more than what words can describe. In the background of a love story is a frame of a war. The atrocities and the protests against the war in Vietnam are evident. Unfortunately we do not see this movie on the TV screens in the USA.

In Paris, the famous forty year-old journalist Robert Colomb (Yves Montand) is married with Catherine (Annie Girardot) but he is an unfaithful husband. After a love affair with the gorgeous actress Mireille (Irène Tunc), Robert meets the twenty-one year-old American model Candice (Candice Bergen), who has come to Paris for taking photos, in a hotel and feels a great attraction for her. Later, he meets her again by chance in a box fight and they begin a torrid affair. Robert is assigned by the television to interview a group of mercenaries in Congo, and he takes Candice to Nairobi with him and his photographer and friend Michel (Michel Parbot) pretending that they are tourists in a tour. Robert promises Candice to tell his wife about their love affair, but he has no courage to disclose the truth to his wife that proposes him to celebrate his birthday in Amsterdam, where they had traveled in their first trip together. Out of the blue, Candice appears in Amsterdam and in the end Robert tells the truth to Catherine about his double-life and the affair with Candice. Catherine leaves him and Robert moves to Candice's place, but six months later they break their relationship. Candice returns to New York and Robert travels to Vietnam to cover the war, where he is imprisoned by the communists. When he returns to Paris, he misses Catherine, but she has a new life with another man.

"Vivre Pour Vivre" is a classy and charming romance about infidelity and loss of a wolf French journalist. Claude Lelouch supports the magnificent story with a screenplay the uses one of the most beautiful music scores of the cinema history as the substitute for dialogs and the result is impressive. As I refereed in the title of my review, the director uses the sounds of silence- when words are not necessary. The lead trio composed by Yves Montand, Annie Girardot and Candice Bergen (for me, the most gorgeous actress from the late 60's and 70's) show awesome chemistry and performances. The sequence in close when Catherine hears the truth from Robert about his infidelity is stunning. The locations, the worldwide situation in the 60's as background with the use of footages and the cinematography are also wonderful. Only today I have finally seen this movie, since in the 60's I did not have the necessary age to watch in the movie theaters and only now this film has been released on DVD in Brazil by Classicline distributor. The conclusion was totally unexpected for me. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Viver Por Viver" ("To Live for Living")

Robert Colomb has two full-time jobs. He's known throughout the world as a globetrotting TV reporter. Less well-known but equally effortful are his exploits as a full-time philanderer.

I saw `Vivre pour Vivre' dubbed in English with the title 'Live for Life.' Some life! Robert seems to always have at least three women in his life: one mistress on her way out, one on her way in, and the cheated wife at home. It helps that Robert is a glib liar. Among his most useful lies are `I'll call you tomorrow' and `My work took longer than planned.' He spends a lot of time and money on planes, trains and hotel rooms for his succession of liaisons. You wonder when this guy will get caught with his pants down.

Some may find his life exciting, but I thought it to be tedious. His companions, including his wife, Catherine, are all attractive and desirable women. But his lifestyle is so hectic and he is so deceitful, you wonder if he's enjoying all this.

Adding to the tedium is considerable footage that doesn't further the plot. There are extended sections with no dialogue or French-only dialogue. We see documentaries of wars, torture, and troop training interspersed with the live action. When Robert's flight returns from Africa, we wait and wait for the plane to land and taxi to the airport terminal.

Annie Girardot is the standout performer in this film. Hers was the most interesting character and she played it to perfection. It was also nice to see Candice Bergen at the beginning of her career. I can't find fault with Yves Montand's performance of what was basically an amoral bum.

I enjoyed some of Claude Lelouch's novel techniques. In a hotel room scene, the camera pans around the room as Robert and his mistress argue. We catch sight of them briefly during each pass around the room. In another scene set on a sleeping car of a train, Robert is lying on the upper bunk while his wife is on the lower. Robert is giving his wife some important but distressing news, but we hear only parts of it because of the clatter of the train. I sensed that his wife was also unable to absorb every word due to the shocking nature of the news. I also liked the exciting safari scenes in Africa. The cinematography of those scenes and of those in Amsterdam was superb.

I reviewed this movie as part of a project at the Library of Congress. I've named the project FIFTY: 50 Notable Films Forgotten Within 50 Years. As best I can determine, this film, like the other forty-nine I've identified, has not been on video, telecast, or distributed in the U.S. since its original release. In my opinion, it is worthy of being made available again.