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This is a wonderful film, the story of two women whose lives gradually become entwined that each can fully bloom. The story of their meeting their husbands, becoming disillusioned with them and then discovering each other is a lovely story. There are problems with the sub-titles in the DVD, so if you were to rely wholly on what you read, the film would not work as well. Overall I enjoyed this film very much. A lovely story of discovery and awakening, with much left to the viewer's imagination, but all the details add to the whole.

Diane Kurys made four films out of her childhood and adolescent experience; that's one of the richest mining for memories in cinematic history. Besides Coup de foudre/Entre nous, there are C'est la vie, Diabolo menthe/Peppermint soda, and Cocktail Molotov (which I have commented on). Kurys's experience is growing up Jewish in post-war France, where the social values are secular but the traditions of the community she belongs to are not.

The story of Lena and Michel may seem bizarre to North Americans--they meet and marry on the same day to escape deportation to the death camps--but it must have seemed quite understandable to the people who had to live through that madness. That Michel loves Lena passionately while she finds him dull and vulgar is also normal. These people are making-do with what they've been given, as are Madeleine and Costa, the other unhappy couple.

You either love or hate Isabelle Huppert--I must admit to the latter many times over the years, but Miou-Miou is worth whatever the rental or purchase price for this picture is: she's just wonderful; the smallest gesture of her hand carries so much meaning. One great scene has Costa, the world's worst businessman, bent over the sewing machine trying to add sleeves to shirts with only one sleeve that he's bought on the black market; Madeleine stands in the next room working at a sculpture, simultaneously trying to console Costa and quietly make him realize what a mess their lives have become.

The Germans have broken through the Maginot Line like rotten burlap, and France has made a humiliating peace. Miou-Miou, Isabelle Huppert -- odd to think of her so early in her career she's second-billed -- and their husbands leave Paris to try to take up lives in Vichy France. Times are hard, everything is shabby, including the men's business schemes, and they're hard on their wives, who draw closer in reaction.

It's a very nice feminist movie that doesn't make the men monsters -- they're just as bewildered with a world turned upside down as anyone else. Nonetheless, it's a pleasure to watch these two fine actresses give their performances as they come to understandwhat friendship means.

I hadn't seen this movie when it opened because I was at a different point in my life and was watching too many women's films in film school. Finally, 37 years later, I decided to give it a chance. I was enraptured by the style of the film, the acting, the flesh and blood characters, the beautiful protagonists. It is somewhat slow but its pace is not the kind of pointless slowness that one would sometimes expect. In other words, the film a story that takes place over 10 years through episodes that rely mostly on dialogue between the characters. Kurys, the director, always makes sure that there's a lot going on in every frame and, if you are a good observer, you will be able to contemplate the meticulous production design and the subtlety of the acting, which is constantly transmitting information about the time, the characters' development and the story. As far as women's films go, this one is not to be missed. Isabelle Huppert was never more enchanting. Super elegant cinematography by Bernard Lutic in Panavision.

The sweetest thing about this film is the portrayal from a daughter's view of her parents' struggles with who they are and their relationships with each other. The ending dedication of the film is quite poignant. This film is a reminder of the ways our lives are thrown together and how that intertwines with the choices we make. This is a bittersweet love story on more than one dimension.