Summary
Once a successful dancer, Miriam has abandoned her career to bring up her son, Serge,
after her boyfriend walked out on her. During a holiday in Venice, she meets an
art forger Pierre with whom she falls in love. During a trip to Canada, Miriam loses
both Pierre and her son in a tragic accident. With her camcorder, she records images
of the places her son wanted to visit, but her camcorder is later stolen. Meanwhile,
Marc Deschamps is giving lectures on futurology, claiming that there is no such thing
as chance or coincidence in life. He has the opportunity to test his theory when
he buys a stolen camcorder and sees Miriam’s last recordings. Marc determines to
find Miriam and return the camcorder to her, certain that they were destined to meet this
way...
Review
Since his popular 1966 film Un
homme et une femme brought him international fame, Claude Lelouch has continued
to make bitter-sweet romantic films which have found more favour with the cinema-going
public than with film critics. Hasards ou coïncidences is the latest
film in this series and is arguably one of Lelouch’s better efforts, less marred by awkward
sentimentality and cinematographic excesses than his earlier films.
Hasards ou coïncidences appeals both intellectually and artistically – the film has an unusual plot and it is shot and assembled with both originality and genuine artistic merit. It combines dramatic and comedic elements with the effortless grace of a prima ballerina (one of the film’s recurring motifs). More significantly, the film manages to convey both the trauma of bereavement and the nature of obsessive love without going overboard, showing that Lelouch is capable of making respectable films when he is able to exercise a little self-restraint. Where the film gets into difficulty and starts to lose its audience is when the director gets carried away with his artistic impulses. Fortunately, compelling performances from Alessandra Martines, Pierre Arditi and Marc Hollogne more than compensate for any weaknesses in the plot or in the direction, and the end result is a satisfying and attractive piece of cinema.
© James Travers 2002
Write a review for this film...
Hasards ou coïncidences appeals both intellectually and artistically – the film has an unusual plot and it is shot and assembled with both originality and genuine artistic merit. It combines dramatic and comedic elements with the effortless grace of a prima ballerina (one of the film’s recurring motifs). More significantly, the film manages to convey both the trauma of bereavement and the nature of obsessive love without going overboard, showing that Lelouch is capable of making respectable films when he is able to exercise a little self-restraint. Where the film gets into difficulty and starts to lose its audience is when the director gets carried away with his artistic impulses. Fortunately, compelling performances from Alessandra Martines, Pierre Arditi and Marc Hollogne more than compensate for any weaknesses in the plot or in the direction, and the end result is a satisfying and attractive piece of cinema.
© James Travers 2002
Write a review for this film...
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Useful links
- Best French films of 2011
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- Best of the French New Wave
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- The best 100 French films
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- Great French filmmakers
Related links
- The best French romantic films
- Other French films of the 1990s
- The best French films of the 1990s
- Other French romantic films
- Biography and films of Claude Lelouch
To buy this film
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Credits
- Director: Claude Lelouch
- Script: Claude Bolling, Christian Gaubert, Claude Lelouch
- Photo: Pierre-William Glenn
- Music: Claude Bolling, Francis Lai
- Cast: Alessandra Martines (Miriam), Pierre Arditi (Pierre), Marc Hollogne (Marc Deschamps), Laurent Hilaire (Laurent), Véronique Moreau (Catherine), Patrick Labbé (Michel Bonhomme)
- Country: France / Canada
- Language: French
- Runtime: 120 min
- Aka: Chance or Coincidence
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To buy Hasards ou coïncidences:

Drama / Romance


