Toute une vie

Lelouch, the master of finding the humour and tragic desperation within human relationships has crafted a signature piece of romance for all us romantics. One annoying flaw is repetitiveness that could have been better edited, but the grand perspective is well worth the extra half hour. The film misses greatness but is well worth watching.

Truly one of the most romantic films ever made. Beautifully shot by LeLouch, this undeservedly obscure film should be required viewing for all movie lovers. Don't miss it.

I loved this film when it first appeared in 1974 and I had waited a long time to see it again. It was just as wonderful as the first time with a big caveat. Reviewers here mention the fact that the version of this film now distributed on DVD in the US contains content that was not part of the film's original release in the US in the 1970's. Someone at IMDb who knows a lot more about this than I do -- should clearly explain this in the capsule summary on the film's front page. To be precise, the ending of the film in the "unedited" or better, "re-edited" version includes a ghastly ending sequence that ruins the ending. The version shown in the US in the 1970's showed a view through the airplane's window that was perfectly timed with the beginning of the credits rolling. That view through the plane window was both under-stated, elegant, and wonderful enough that it was my most stirring memory of this film and I was sadly disappointed to find it gone!

I've loved this movie since I first saw it in 1974. I've been waiting to show it to my wife for years and was delighted to find it had been put on DVD. It went along wonderfully until what I had known as to be the end suddenly jumped into an additional 20 minutes containing a futuristic (for 1974) pessimistic segment of the story. Although it tied into an earlier scene in the film (also left out of the original release), it was easy to see why this had been left out (in the US at least)...IT WAS STUPID. Furthermore, it changed the entire context of the film. What had been a wonderfully romantic story showing how two people destined to find each other after the events of their lives have shaped them had now become some bizarre cut rate version of Soylent Green. Such a shame. At least when a movie like this is released on DVD they could have made the "unedited version" optional, as was done on the My Darling Clementine DVD. All it shows me is that the editor is usually right from the start and giving the director's a chance to re-cut their film does not always result in an improvement.

See the subtitled version if you can. Lelouch weaves a wonderful, comic and tragic story covering most of the 20th century Europe. Within this global sweep, he traces the path of two people who are destined to meet. You see events from their grandparents' and parents' lives and then from their separate childhoods.