"Les Choses de la vie" is a French film directed by Claude Sautet and released in 1970.
It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name "Les Choses de la vie" by Paul Guimard from 1967.
The film
Screenplay and dialogues by Jean Loup Dabadie.
Pierre (Michel Piccoli), an architect in his forties, is the victim of a road accident at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint. Ejected from the burning vehicle, fatally injured and in a coma, at the side of the road, he recalls his recent past, especially the two women who matter in his life: his wife Catherine (Lea Massari), from whom he is separated and with whom he has had a son (Bertrand), and Hélène (Romy Schneider), with whom his love relationship is at a turning point.
He looks back on his life in a hurry and then realizes the importance of the many little things in life, "the things of life", the joys and sorrows that make up the happiness of a lifetime. Pierre's state constitutes the film's plot: without any awareness of the death he is encountering, and naively obsessed by his "tiredness", his inner monologue revolves constantly around the need not to leave a letter lying around that would give a completely different meaning to his relationship with others. In the end, this letter does not reach its addressee: it is torn up, thus fulfilling Peter's ultimate wish.
The Casting
Michel Piccoli: Pierre Bérard
Romy Schneider: Hélène Haltig
Lea Massari : Catherine Bérard
Jean Bouise : François
Gérard Lartigau: Bertrand Bérard
Boby Lapointe: the cattle driver
Screenplay and dialogues by Jean Loup Dabadie.
Shooting locations
Part of the film is shot on the Ile de Ré and in La Rochelle.
With "Les Choses de la vie", Claude Sautet inaugurates his cycle of contemporary intimate portraits that will become his trademark and constitute his fame.
Initially, Claude Sautet wished to entrust the main roles to Annie Girardot and Yves Montand and then Lino Ventura, but they all declined the proposal.
It was Pierre Granier-Deferre, showing Claude Sautet rushes from the film "La Piscine" that convinced the director to cast Romy Schneider in the role of Hélène thanks to the sensuality she exudes.
Romy Schneider was going through a period of stagnation, but her two roles and successes in "Les Choses de la vie" and "La Piscine" marked a change of register for her and a return to the foreground.
It was her first collaboration with Claude Sautet, for whom she was to be the favourite actress. They will shoot four other films together.
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