À nous deux (1979) - film review

The son of a notorious gangster, Simon Lacassaigne attempts to follow in his father’s footsteps – but only ends up in prison.  He manages to escape and, thanks to his uncle, Tonton Musique, he finds a safe hideout in the country.  He then has to share his hiding place with Françoise, who had a nice line in blackmail and helping married women divorce their husbands before she too had to go on the run.  When their hideout is uncovered by the police, Simon and Françoise make a hasty getaway.  As they go to increasingly daring attempts to evade their police pursuers, the two fugitives realise they have fallen in love...

An amusing variation on the Bonnie and Clyde story, À nous deux is fairly representative of director Claude Lelouch’s films from the 1970s – nearly all of the genius of the film is in the photography and very little is in the actual narrative.  Enigmatic - and satisfyingly downplayed – performances from Jacques Dutronc and Catherine Deneuve just about make up for the weaknesses in the script, although neither of their characters is particularly believable.  Jacques Villeret ought to have been the film’s star - not only does he give the best performance but his character is the most sympathetic and credible; it is a shame he appears only in the first half of the film.

Overall, the film leaves a great deal to be desired.  Whilst this is a creditable attempt to re-discover the thriller formula, Lelouch doesn’t really seem to have had the inclination or temerity to break away from the tried-and-tested 1970s policier formula.  The film includes just too many crime thriller stereotypes to be taken seriously.   It also relies a little too heavily on flashbacks and dream sequences – which confuse the spectator and make the narrative flow painfully uneven.

What saves the film is the quality of the cinematography, particularly the hauntingly beautiful location shots of Canada.  As has often been remarked, photography is Claude Lelouch’s great strength, and in this film he is given ample opportunity to play on that strength.

© James Travers 2000

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