While flying back to Mumbai [after my superb new year vacation in M’tius] I had to kill 6 hours in plane & once all the beautiful last view of M’tius was over, I chose to see this film bcoz the title ’’And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen’’ was intriguing & reading Jeremy Irons name in the starring list, I was sure it had to be a good movie. I was in for a lot of surprises :)
The film was in French with english sub-titles, reading which was no problem for me coz the film began at a slow pace. But as the story moves forward there are so many characters - mostly with French names - that I was totally confused. Then to add to my surprise, the cast was speaking in English ! The film becomes very interesting with the introduction of the heroine & the story moves fast from thereon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The story :
Valentin Valentin(Jeremy Irons) is a jewel thief, who is internationally famous for his ’works & disguises’. He now suffers from temporary memory lapses & blackouts. During his blackouts he dreams of repaying all those people whom he had robbed. Disturbed by this sudden illness & pangs of guilt, Valentin decides to leave his past & go sailing around the world, to find a meaning of his life. In doing so he also leaves behind his wife Francoise but does not tell her of his intentions to never come back as he is still confused about his feelings/love for her.
On his yacht, which is named - Ladies & Gentlemen - he starts his journey to an unknown destination & it seems he is recovering from his illness. But soon he once again suffers a blackout, which lands him in the coast of Morocco. On his visit to the local doctor & then to the hospital, Valentin learns that there is another recent ’foreign’ patient who suffers from similar blackouts. The only difference being that she dreams of orchestra. Curious to know more about this coincidental partner in illness, Valentin stops over at the hotel where she is staying.
Here he meets the attractive jazz singer Jane Lester [Patricia Kaas] & is immediately drawn towards her. Jane is a disillusioned singer who is trying to cope with a recent failed love affair. She too lands up in Morocco after a blackout & waiting for her scan results, Jane is also whiling her time singing at a local hotel. During one of her blackouts, when Valentin approaches her she refuses to take his help but the very next day when there is a robbery in this hotel & the local police discover Valentin’s background, Jane is the first one to help Valentin by being his alibi.
From here the story turns to concentrate on both main characters - Valentin & Jane, who then discover the magic & strength of love, which helps them overcome their emptiness, their strange illness & also to forget their past.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Film & Performances:
Directed & produced by Claude Lelouch this almost 2 hours film tells you many short stories involving the main characters as well as the other people in their lives. What starts as a thriller later turns into a romantic story & to keep the audience engrossed is not a easy job but Claude has managed to keep a hold on the story & his characters too. The film has been shot on beautiful locations in Morocco, England & Paris. The main characters suffering from a similar yet uncommon illness are drawn towards supernatural to help them recover. Their journey to one of these ’holy shrines’ is shot in Morocco deserts [in yellow/white] & the dreams that Valentin has during his blackouts [in black n white], gives the film a beautiful look.
Jeremy Irons is excellent as the gentleman thief who is forever wearing a worrying look. The scenes where he suffers from blackouts looked so real that it made me hold my breath, you feel pain when you see Jeremy’s face in a blank expression, not knowing where he is going or who is talking to him. The same Valentin cannot help but be his charismatic self when he meets Jane for the first time. Jeremy lives the role of Valentin to perfection.
The surprise of this film was the heroine Patricia Kaas ! She is not only beautiful but also has a LOVELY voice. I was so enchanted by her that I later searched for her on the internet & found that she is a popular singer in France, who has sold millions of records. The film has all songs from her album ’’The Piano Bar’’ which has a mix of english and french songs. The best song I liked was ’’When you go away’’. Patricia Kaas makes her debut in this film and I have to admit she is remarkable! However, it is her soothing seductive voice that makes Kaas so alluring & also makes the audience sympathise with her character. Being a singer has helped her enact her role beautifully. As a jilted & unhappy girl, she rarely smiles in the film but when she smiles, you feel so relaxed & want her to be happy forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Though I decided to see this film only to kill time, I wouldn’t mind watchg it once more. This is a film about love, hope & never giving up :)) Hence, my review is titled ’’Pyaar mein kabhi kabhi’’ [anything is possible in love] :))
What I didn’t understand about the film was the title, there is no reference to this in the film except that Valentin’s yacht is named ’’Ladies & Gentlemen’’. Well, if anyone knows...... let me know too :)