Une histoire simple

Most French movies, and especially Claude Sautet's are very realistic, slow-paced, intelligent and "simple". Each one I have seen had great moments, as everyone encounters great moments in life. This may be too ordinary and plain. Though not boring at any time, at the end I could not think of any memorable scene, shot or dialogue, and thought it was missing something, although the title does suggest they didn't have much planned for the beautiful heroine. A story you may have had, heard, thought about- in French, on screen.

I loved this film. It's not really for kids. To appreciate it fully I think you have to be older. It's about the last moment of youth on the edge of the passage into middle age. It's about getting a sense of who you and the people around you really are.

Romy Schneider is beautiful and seems to incarnate this quiet but strong woman. In a way this is a woman's picture. It concentrates mainly on the women. The men are weaker, on the whole, but not in the programmatic way of bad "feminist" films. In one scene the women are cooking together, getting into a serious argument, then somebody spills something and they suddenly unite in cleaning it up. That might be an emblem of the movie. Tough things happen, but life goes on.

One of the remarkable qualities of this film is the thick sense of reality it gives--of a world of co-workers and friends which you never fully encompass. You're seeing a slice of life, and you feel there's much more life extending out in all directions.

The direction is subtle, understated but beautiful compositions and a lovely way of starting with a shot and then moving to another without a cut. Many frames are filled with people, and a sense, again, of thick life surrounding this story. Either I missed it when it came out, or didn't get it and forgot, but this time it was a revelation to me.

This was the fifth and last collaboration of Romy Schneider and Claude Sautet. Sautet did for her what von Sternberg did for Marlene Dietrich--gave her star quality in well-written vehicles. Cesar et Rosalie and Les choses de la vie are wonderful to watch today; they have pace and drama, plenty of verve. Une Histoire simple, by contrast, has little drama, slack pace and characters you don't get involved with. The group dynamic-the characters all working in the same company-lowers the interest. It's a film made to please a feminist segment of the population, like Mazursky's An Unmarried Woman.

This simple story may not be so simple after all. Romy Schneider navigates between two men, is pregnant or not, is preoccupied with her colleagues at work, and with her friends.

Claude Sautet creates little slices of life that reflect the preoccupations of this petite bourgeoisie: worrying about their work, getting together with friends at the country house, having sentimental affairs.

The film is really centered on Romy Schneider's character, with all the others gravitating around her. One quality, which may or may not be linked to Romy Schneider's performance, which may or may not be linked to Claude Sautet's intention, is that the viewer is never allowed to guess the motivations or what is going on inside the head of Romy Schneider's character. She never does. She's always a mystery.

Claude Sautet uses very little music, and that's a good thing, because the images are already powerful enough.

To be seen essentially for Romy Schneider and her character. The rest of the film is moderately interesting and exciting: we feel relatively unconcerned by the vicissitudes of the various characters. Romy Schneider's character often remains a little mysterious, even opaque.

Claude Sautet achieves a light-hearted drama, because the vicissitudes of Romy Schneider's character and those who gravitate around her are not those of a dramatic comedy.

An aborted child. An expected other. Marks of two relations and symbol of the acceptance of their mother.

A beautiful film for inspired reflection of near reality situations.

For eulogy of women and for the gentle exploration of situations. For the tension and for beautiful portrait of friendship. For cold image of the finish with this world and the late discovery of this for near others.

And, sure, not the last, for the touch of Claude Sautet art, for lovely , brilliant Romy Schneider, for the dialogues and the splendid image of her in the end of film.

A film offering only a very simple story. But useful one for define a period sensibility, the transition to new age and the meening of life.