Le jour du vin et des roses

The above quote is from director Blake Edwards, it's taken from the highly recommended commentary track he provides on the DVD for this excellent and compelling piece of work.

Joe is a social drinker but he's social all the time, during one of his arranged parties for a client he meets and falls in love with teetotal Kirsten. They get married and changes start to dominate their marital bliss, he is stressed from work and drinks daily to forget the rigours of the job, she being the loving wife chooses to drink with him to help ease his pain, but soon the joyous days of wine & roses will turn to something dark and terribly turbulent, and this will threaten their own respective sanity.

The film begins with Henry Mancini's academy award winning title theme tune, it's a truly beautiful piece of music that perfectly sets the tone of the film for its first third, it lulls you into this couples love, the bond they share is a truly wonderful thing, it really is all sweetness and light, but then the bottle becomes part of this couples life, they become a threesome from which only dark horrors will form. Containing emotionally shattering scenes that once viewed can not be forgotten (witness Joe's soul destroying search for liquor in a greenhouse), Days Of Wine & Roses still manages not to force feed the viewer a moralistic stance, it lays down the facts of alcoholism and the perils of co-dependency with honest appraisal, we as the viewers are left in no doubt that it is us, and us only, that can make of it as we see fit, the ending especially is a particular poser of which we ourselves seek clarity.

Wonderfully written by the talented hands of J.P. Miller, Days Of Wine And Roses boasts marvellous direction from Blake Edwards and two academy award nominated performances from Jack Lemmon & Lee Remick, it's a testament to all involved that come the finale the viewer feels drained, yet strangely...not at all thirsty for the amber nectar.

Quality drama. 9/10

In San Francisco, the public relations Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) drinks everyday to "socialize" with his clients. After an incidental meeting with the secretary Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick), they date and sooner they get married. When they have a baby girl, Joe becomes alcoholic, Kirsten begins to drink to follow her husband, and both become alcoholics. Joe loses his job and they destroy their lives. After many trials, Joe is treated, desintoxicated and supported by the AA, while Kirsten remains a chronic drunkard.

"Days of Wine and Roses" is a realistic sad drama that exposes the life of a drunken couple from their top to the bottom of the well. Together with "The Lost Weekend", I believe these are the two best movies Hollywood properly and seriously produced about this important subject. The sad story has no final redemption or commercial conclusion, and is a must see. The gorgeous Lee Remick and the excellent Jack Lemmon have magnificent performances and deserved their nomination to the Oscar. The wonderful cinematography and the magnificent unforgettable song of Henri Mancini complete this high-class classic film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Vício Maldito" ("Damned Vicious")

Started off a little slow but turned into one of the hottest dramas I've ever seen. Remick and Lemmon were sensational as the two drunks who couldn't control their actions after a few drinks. I had to laugh at some of their antics, but the greenhouse scene and especially the pitiful, horrible DT's in the rubber room were sobering indeed. Great picture showing the ravages and uselessness of booze.

I always saw this movie more as a love story than one of a couple trapped in alcoholism. Joe and Kirsten had that chemistry that drew them to each other through good times and bad, and I have never seen another film that depicted enduring love like this one. I can still recall the characters' honest, plaintive statements to each other and how they reminded me of how it feels when you're with someone who truly fulfills you. Joe to Kirsten on their first date: "Short story? Boy meets girl...beautiful girl, nice, the only kind of girl a guy should bother about...."

Kirsten to Joe, desperately trying to hold on to what they have after her infidelities: "I never gave anything out of myself to them....love is the only thing that stops you from being lonely, and I didn't have that..."

Joe to the AA counselor, who warns him about what alcohol can do to a marital relationship: "You don't understand, there's no trouble between us....we're in love..."

Joe, in the depths of alcoholism, tremors, shaking..."I have to find my wife....I love her...I love her..."

This movie is sad and somewhat draining to watch, but also does provide useful insight into the insidious disease of alcohol addiction, along with being a very moving, romantic drama of two people haunted by troubled childhoods, struggling to keep the sincere commitment they have to each other alive.

This movie was first a television play performed live and then went on to Hollywood for a slightly glossier production. This is NOT a bad pedigree, as shortly before this the TV movie "Marty" was also brought to Hollywood and became one of the best movies of the 1950s. Both the TV and Hollywood versions are excellent--see either or both if you get the chance.

To me this movie is the antithesis of "The Lost Weekend". "The Lost Weekend" was not a very realistic portrayal of alcoholism in many ways--particularly the ending where the lead suddenly just kicks his addiction and everything is hunky-dory. Get real! ""Days of Wine and Roses instead does not pull punches. It refuses to give in to sentimentality and take the typical Hollywood approach to films. There is no happy ending, there were surprises and heartbreak--much like dealing with alcoholism in real life.

Because it would spoil it to give too much information, I will only briefly discuss the plot. Jack Lemmon is a business man who slowly goes from the "two martini lunch" to alcoholism. His acting was very convincing and gut-wrenching. Equally compelling is his wife, Lee Remick, who puts on the performance of her life as the long-suffering wife who slowly goes from co-dependent to alcoholism herself. I've worked in a chemical dependency program and I've got to tell you, all the excuses and bargains and excesses in the movie were exactly what my clients had said and done as well. It is obvious the writers were doing their homework, as the movie delivers on every level.

UPDATE: Since this review, I was able to see the original teleplay--which, along with a few other teleplays of the era, are available through the Criterion Collection. See this in its original form. While not nearly as glossy, it still packs a huge dramatic punch!