And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...

The smart and bold thief of jewelries Valentin Valentin (Jeremy Irons) decides to leave his mate and travel around the world for one hundred days in a sailing boat. In the coast of Morocco, he has an amnesia problem and comes onshore looking for a doctor. Meanwhile, the piano-bar singer Jane Lester (Patricia Kaas) is brokenhearted when her lover leaves her to stay with her beast friend and decides to accept a job in Morocco to forget the past. An incident in the hotel where they are lodged joins them and they fell attracted for each other.

"And Now…Ladies and Gentlemen…" is a delightful romance, with many attractions: the story is very charming; the cinematography is beautiful; the chemistry between the elegant Jeremy Irons and the lovely Patricia Kaas is stunning; and the voice of the gorgeous Patricia Kaas is awesome. This singer is completely unknown in Brazil, and I was surprised and touched hearing such beautiful interpretation of wonderful songs. Patricia Kaas herself alone makes this movie very worthwhile. It is difficult to assimilate Claudia Cardinale old, but she has a great performance in the role of an unfaithful countess. Claude Lelouch is amazing as usual, making a perfect combination of an attractive story with the magnificent interpretation of this wonderful Patricia Kaas. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Amantes & Infiéis" ("Lovers & Unfaithful")

I enjoyed this film both for it beautiful cinematography and dialog; but also for the way it attempts to deal with the deep issues of conscience, redemption, love, and reality. Following 2 people on personal journeys, brought together by events to cure a real physical problem each has. Ultimately realizing that with or without a cure reality for each is only what their own perceptions create. The very nature of perception and reality is opened up, in a delightfully playful and twisting drama.

As with most (but not all) Lelouch films, well worth watching and taking in at the next level.

Claude Lelouch's "And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen" ... (2002) tries to be a lot of things. It has the elements of romance, thriller, and drama and much more. It could be called "Another Man and Another Woman 36 years later" and it takes us to London, Paris, and Morocco. A successful and creative jewel thief Valentin (Jeremy Irons) sails alone around the world. The fate brings him to Morocco where he meets a night singer Jean (Patricia Kaas) who hopes to escape from the heartache of the failed affair. They both suffer from blackouts and amnesia that may be caused by brain tumors - of course, they were meant to meet. They will seek the way to save their lives and then change them.

The movie is beautiful to look at, and the songs that Patricia Kaas sings are wonderful, the best asset of the movie. I read that Kaas's album "Piano Bar", a hand-picked collection of the popular love songs inspired Lelouch to make this movie where Kaas debuted as an actress. I've heard her singing before and I like her a lot. I also think that her screen debut was successful. Her songs kept the movie together because there were too many stories intermingling and even though they were all interesting and compelling, it was not just easy to keep track of all them.

There was one bitter-sweet moment when I realized that the actress who played a countess in Morocco's hotel and whose jewels were stolen in a very manner Valentin would do, was Claudia Cardinale, yes, The Claudia Cardinale. She is still a beautiful woman but the first thought that came to my mind was, "What does time do to all of us?"

"And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen" was fun while it lasted. I don't think I'll want to see it again any time soon but I am going to order Patricia Kaas's CD and I'll be listening to it often.

I saw this on the Sundance Channel recently and its oddness kept me interested. Jeremy Irons is quite good as is the French lead actress who I am not familiar with and whose singing talent is jazzy and soulful. I think there is a very "French" ambiance to this film, although I'm not sure really what I mean when I say this. The movie takes its time in terms of hooking up the two lead characters...by the time they do meet each other (albeit in kind of a far fetched way perhaps) the audience knows a lot about each of them and I, for one, had grown to like them and was glad to see them meet up. I also liked the fact that there is a bit of mystery thrown into the storyline in the midst of them meeting. There is also a strong emotional undercurrent in this film of sadness. So if you are a Jeremy Irons fan or if you just want to see a decent contemporary story about people maneuvering middle life while still searching for themselves and love, this film is possibly worth your time.

...and I don't know why. "And Now Ladies and Gentlemen" isn't so much the light drama it appears to be as it is a rich, ebullient, zesty feast of film fare for the viewer. Yes, there's a story in which Iron's plays an amnesiac con-man who encounters a beautiful jazz singer with a similar health problem. But, however interesting the story is, it's just the glue which binds together a colorful potpourri of film fare from jazz ballads which flow like honey to cute/clever con schemes to ocean voyages to exotic locations to variegation of cultures/languages to beautiful/handsome visages to...etc. Whether intended or not, this film is a wonderful celebration of life to be enjoyed, not analyzed. (B+)