Cheap And Now My Love (Video) (Marthe Keller, André Dussollier, Charles Denner) (Claude Lelouch) Price

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Customer Reviews of And Now My Love

And I think the ending is still charming!
I, too, had only seen the American "video" version (not sure what version that would be, as I understand there to be more than "two" versions of this film) and was all jazzed by the final meeting in the airplane ending. But let me say that I think the "future" ending that everyone is all riled up about is quite charming and harmless. I mean, the set design is most impressive and there must be a cast of hundreds. And the music by Francis Lai is most appropriate: a show-y, operatic, future opus played out in its entirety without dialog.
So, vote one viewer here who thinks the "future" ending is darn cool and a welcome "addition" (though, again, I am not sure that this is even an "addition", but part of the original French version, which should be preferred).

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DVD Version Disappointment!
My absolute all-time favorite film, which I've watched countless times over the last 20 years (taped from a televised version from the Bravo channel). Nothing could surpass the story of the inevitable meeting of the two primary characters of the film. And when they finally do meet - it has been a moment that has always given me the cold chills (in a good way).

With that said, this new DVD release is a thorough disappointment. Claude Lelouch, with all his lifetime of experience of film making has inexplicably chosen to restore nearly 20 minutes of footage that was edited out of the version that was generally released on video tape years ago. Thus making this current DVD version an over-bloated affair, ending in a mind-numbing 10 minute "life-in-the-future-unless-we-do-something-about-it-now" sequence. Sure, you can give some allowances that this film was a product of its time (originally released in 1974). But for Lelouch to self-indulgently insert back footage that completely destroys the momentum of what should be that "cold-chill" scene - well, I think I've said enough. Suffice it to say, a good film editor is worth his or her weight in gold.

Other "restored" scenes are fairly short, and don't really detract from the film; however the new English subtitles supplied with this release are questionable.

So, if you plan to buy this version (since the old video tape version has not been available for years!), make sure you know French, turn the subtitles off, and be ready to hit the fast forward button at the very end of the film.

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Romance in a Time Capsule
From the opening shot, in black and white with titles, at the turn of the 20th Century, showing a cinematographer shooting with a windup camera on a tripod, (meeting and courting the grandmother of our soon to be female lead, Martha Keller) to the final color image 75 years later, we're enchanted watching through three generations as our two hope-to-God will-be-lovers, are being prepared through history, war, and the process of failing, overcoming, succeeding, and living through those years (1899 to 1975) to eventually, hopefully become the two mature adults who will someday meet, when they will be ready for each other. The filmmaking itself changes to conform with movie making history. When sound quickly follows, it follows in our film; in the forties, we have color, and on and on. One of the joys of rewatching this film is to notice how our peoples' paths cross, unbeknownst to them, throughout the film. You're like a kid, pulling for them to meet. I have seen this film 20 times and it's always brand new. This was Claude LeLouche's movie after "A Man and a Woman" and I'm always surprised most people have never even heard of it. It's a wonderful trip and my favorite film of all time. I was a working actress at the time I first saw it and if I could have, I'd have happily carried cables or props on any Claude LeLouche set. See it, by all means, and pretend you're going to see a 3 star movie so you won't be disappointed -- you know how THAT goes. I'm happy to share it with you. Post Script added after I actually viewed the DVD -- they've included an ending different from anything I've ever seen before, and you know I've seen it 20 times. Suddenly we're in some futuristic Stanley Kubrick/Buck Rogers world which they've apparently extropolated from an earlier scene with a futurist. It's long and tedious, possibly 5 minutes long, before it finally gets back to the ending with which I'm familiar. So, 5 stars with the old ending; only 3 as they're playing it out now. Sorry about that.