In its broadest strokes, “A Man and a Woman,” which screens at Woodmere on Tuesday, April 22, is fairly straightforward: A young widow (Anouke Aimée) has a chance encounter with a widower (Jean-Louis Trintignant) while dropping off their children at school. A romance blossoms, but each must come to terms with their grief and the memories of their spouses as they try to navigate a future together.
From this simple conceit emerges one of the most visually compelling movies of the 1960s. Utilizing a wide array of film styles to convey the emotion of a scene, “A Man and a Woman” is not just a uniquely powerful romantic drama, but also an intriguing exploration of the relationship between memory, experience and the act of watching movies.
The first sign that “A Man and a Woman” will be anything but your standard drama comes during the couple’s introduction to one another on the steps of their children’s school. Up to this point, the film has been shot in the hazy color of a snapshot. But now, as a missed train sets the stage for their encounter, the color film is swapped out in favor of high-contrast black and white. The deep shadow swallows up all extraneous details, leaving only the couple at the center of the frame, as if everything but the space between them has ceased to exist.
Throughout “A Man and a Woman,” director Claude Lelouche alternates not just between a wide array of shooting styles, but a wide array of film itself. The movie switches between color and black and white film, from industry-standard 35mm to grainy Super 8, in order to accentuate the emotions of the scene. Memory takes the form of a proto-music video as a scene unfolds with Anne (Aimée) being serenaded by her late husband (Pierre Barouh) against a backdrop of footage showing the pair on ski trips and horseback riding.
Later, as Jean-Louis (Trintignant) participates in a treacherous, snowbound rally race to Monaco, the film drops to grainy black and white; this time, the jerky, handheld cinematography and blurry visuals obscures everything but the snow and the treacherous curves, dropping us uncomfortably into Jean-Louis’ anxious psyche.
These choices make for a viewing experience that is unpredictable and gripping, not unlike watching a scrapbook in motion. Like many of its forebears in the French New Wave movement of the 1950s and 60s, “A Man and a Woman” is a film fascinated with the mechanics of film as a medium, and by experimenting with the visual language from scene to scene is able to tell a story in a manner that only cinema is capable of telling.
To that end, “A Man and a Woman” feels like it is a movie about movies, and the way they intersect with memory and lived experience. As the film’s flashbacks play, one gets the sense that the characters are watching them alongside the viewer, as if the memories are short films rather than spoken accounts. In a sense, Anne and Jean-Louis are the true “directors” of the film, providing their memories with their shot composition, editing and score.
“A Man and a Woman” will screen at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22 at Woodmere, 9201 Germantown Ave., in Chestnut Hill. The film is presented in French with English subtitles. Light refreshments will be available prior to the screening. Tuesday Night at the Movies screenings are free to the public, but contributions are welcomed. Please check woodmereartmuseum.org the day of the screening for updates on weather-related delays/cancellations.
