Un autre homme, une autre chance

Photographer Francis Huster convinces Genevieve Bujold to abandon their native Paris and make a new life in the American west. They get married on the wagon train and settle in a small but growing city; he is shot because of his incessant picture taking. Meanwhile, veterinarian James Caan has a nagging wife, who wants they to move from their ranch. She dies in childbirth.

Director Claude Lelouch is the most unabashedly romantic director since Frank Borzage. As a result, you keep wondering when Caan and Mlle Bujold are going to stop mourning and start living again. There's no sign of the ineluctable workings of fate here, just the chance of a rebirth in the New World, with Caan at his most masculine, and Mlle Bujold indescribably cute.

Veteran cinematographer Stanley Cortez has his last credit here, capturing, along with Jacques Lefrancois, Lelouch's wide-eyed view of the beauties and weirdnesses of the Old West.

Rediscovering Lelouch on DVD, not having seen his films since they were aired on TV in the 70s and 80s, I enjoy them even more than expected.

This is not a western, not a love story, not a historical picture... it is all of it and none of it, it is about how lifes cross depending on random changes of fate. If you like mindless action, down-to-earth westerns or tear-jerkers pass your way as you will not have the patience or the "gusto" to watch (just rent any mindless Stallone or Schwarzenegger movie, that should do). If on the other hand you can be moved by the little things of life and you want a real story, with lots of content and brought with great skill, this is definitely for you. This is not an artsy movie, it's a great movie!

Lelouche has a knack of developing his characters over the duration of his movies, so you feel like you are part of the environment and not someone peeking in on what happens or a distant spectator. In "Un autre homme, une autre chance" he bridges the ocean to tell us about a french woman and an American man that could not be more different. The way they both evolve and finally come together through ups and downs, is made very special exactly by the fact it is so common... a reality show without the voyeuristic element that often leaves a bitter after-taste. It is told with such ease and with great performance of the actors.

Definitely one of Lelouche's best movies and a must-see.

Became aware of this film a week ago, in a karaoke bar in - of all places - Tombstone, AZ. The movie was up on the widescreen TV, but the sound was turned off. Even so, the visuals had me focusing on the movie more than listening to the live music! First I'm seeing a war in Europe, then I'm seeing the American land races, back and forth, and well-known faces of James Caan, Genevieve Bujold, and dear old Richard Farnsworth. Even without sound, the tenderness of some scenes came through! Had to find out more about this film! So I jotted a few notes and looked it up by actors/together, and now that I have read more good reviews than bad, I will be putting it at the top of our rental list!

I am studying sound design and this movie blew me away. Watched it late night only because of the excellent James C. The most striking thing is when ever there is a violent scene, the director choose to fade out and loose all natural sound and simply play a simple but striking piece of piano. It distances you from the horror of the violence, it seemed to me to be as if I was being sheltered from the full effect. Powerful and poetic this was a revisionist western way ahead of its peers and only to be matched by Clint Eastwood's High plains drifter and Beguiled.

This was not a stellar film, but life and films aren't always galactic experiences. If you want to go back and spend some light time in the 19th century American West and France this is a nice bit of time travel. I'm confused by the opening scene because it stands all alone and is never resolved. I would have expected a flash of light and a trip though a worm hole and an eventual return to modern times. But that would have been a different story, I suppose. Once back in time the story, ambiance, characters and storytelling style kept my attention nicely. Of course, I'm a fan of James Caan, and the chemistry between him and Geneviève Bujold was very touching and not overdone. In fact, nothing was overdone. It's just a good, understated love story.