Became aware of this film a week ago, in a karaoke bar in - of all places - Tombstone, AZ. The movie was up on the widescreen TV, but the sound was turned off. Even so, the visuals had me focusing on the movie more than listening to the live music! First I'm seeing a war in Europe, then I'm seeing the American land races, back and forth, and well-known faces of James Caan, Genevieve Bujold, and dear old Richard Farnsworth. Even without sound, the tenderness of some scenes came through! Had to find out more about this film! So I jotted a few notes and looked it up by actors/together, and now that I have read more good reviews than bad, I will be putting it at the top of our rental list!
16 Reviews
French love story set in the Old West.
Manco13 December 1999
This is not a western, this is a dramatic love story set in the Old West. If you think Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West" is slow and artsy you won't enjoy this film because it is even slower and more artistic. Good performances by Caan and Bujold can't help speed the pace of this drawn out love story. The only action takes place in the first 20 minutes of the film. The rest is pure love story which is okay but we've seen it all before in Lelouch's "A Man and a Woman."
Art goes to the old west and turns into an upside down lampshade to represent man's inhumanity to man.
mark.waltz16 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Having experienced the glory of the western film noir ("Pursued", "The Furies"), I was curious over the European influenced western that had more of its share of Bergman, Passolini and Fellini guiding them. "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" and "Doc" were artistic disappointments to me, with "McCabe" highly overrated in my opinion and this one along with "Doc" very worthy of their obscurity. James Caan was everywhere in the 1970's and Genevieve Bujold is one of those nearly forgotten movie stars that even in a failure raised it up to acceptable only because of her presence. Under the helm of the legendary French director Claude Lelouch, this one is the best of those three, painfully dreary at times, yet with a touch of class that can't be ignored.
The story in the first half gives us the background stories of Caan and Bujold, both involved in marriages that will end in tragedy. They are both photographers so their shared interest will bring them together, and Bujold's story could have been a movie completely separate itself. She's a young French lady during the time of Napoleon where Paris is still loaded with poverty and filth, and we are treated to her experience coming over to the United States in steerage. She ends up in the west where she meets Caan, and as a career woman in a rugged man's world, quite amazing.
It is her performance in this that is the film's strength, along with the music and photography. Caan appears in a prologue as a photographer in the modern west shooting an absurd looking advertisement, and it is his suggestion that the man who hired him see her photographs that guides the film's structure. His story (or that of a lookalike ancestor) is changed suddenly where as a new father, he comes home to find that his first wife (Jennifer Warren) is dead, presumably raped.
There's a lot to admire here, and the two actors work well off of each other, but the film is eerily quiet at times, so it's easy to look away and loose footing of where you are and where the story is going. The obvious European influence on the technical aspects of the film is a strength and a failure because unless you are prepared for an often slow moving narrative, you will lose interest long before it is over. But with some energy while watching, you can engage in the brilliance of Bujold who walks off with the accolades here very easily.
The story in the first half gives us the background stories of Caan and Bujold, both involved in marriages that will end in tragedy. They are both photographers so their shared interest will bring them together, and Bujold's story could have been a movie completely separate itself. She's a young French lady during the time of Napoleon where Paris is still loaded with poverty and filth, and we are treated to her experience coming over to the United States in steerage. She ends up in the west where she meets Caan, and as a career woman in a rugged man's world, quite amazing.
It is her performance in this that is the film's strength, along with the music and photography. Caan appears in a prologue as a photographer in the modern west shooting an absurd looking advertisement, and it is his suggestion that the man who hired him see her photographs that guides the film's structure. His story (or that of a lookalike ancestor) is changed suddenly where as a new father, he comes home to find that his first wife (Jennifer Warren) is dead, presumably raped.
There's a lot to admire here, and the two actors work well off of each other, but the film is eerily quiet at times, so it's easy to look away and loose footing of where you are and where the story is going. The obvious European influence on the technical aspects of the film is a strength and a failure because unless you are prepared for an often slow moving narrative, you will lose interest long before it is over. But with some energy while watching, you can engage in the brilliance of Bujold who walks off with the accolades here very easily.
Slice of the Old West
peterantonrev2 November 2011
This was not a stellar film, but life and films aren't always galactic experiences. If you want to go back and spend some light time in the 19th century American West and France this is a nice bit of time travel. I'm confused by the opening scene because it stands all alone and is never resolved. I would have expected a flash of light and a trip though a worm hole and an eventual return to modern times. But that would have been a different story, I suppose. Once back in time the story, ambiance, characters and storytelling style kept my attention nicely. Of course, I'm a fan of James Caan, and the chemistry between him and Geneviève Bujold was very touching and not overdone. In fact, nothing was overdone. It's just a good, understated love story.
Lazy, hazy romantic western which fails to bloom despite two top stars
moonspinner5530 March 2008
Frenchman and his wife come to Old West America circa 1870 in search of new lives for themselves, but he is soon killed and she becomes acquainted with a shy, gentle widower. US-French co-production from writer-director Claude Lelouch, who has keen eyes and stirs up an appropriately dusty, windswept scenario. Unfortunately, the film (in English, French and Spanish) is lumbering and overlong at 130mns. The casting of James Caan and Genevieve Bujold seems promising at the outset, but their characters generate little interest. Fascinatingly detailed, however, with beautiful cinematography by Stanley Cortez and Jacques Lefrançois, but a narrative that might've stood some tightening. ** from ****
Wonderful
yashimo11 February 2004
I am studying sound design and this movie blew me away. Watched it late night only because of the excellent James C. The most striking thing is when ever there is a violent scene, the director choose to fade out and loose all natural sound and simply play a simple but striking piece of piano. It distances you from the horror of the violence, it seemed to me to be as if I was being sheltered from the full effect. Powerful and poetic this was a revisionist western way ahead of its peers and only to be matched by Clint Eastwood's High plains drifter and Beguiled.
...w...
cdoublejj21 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Why is the intro/begging scene never resolved? why is that scene even there? why are they on horses playing pool in a bar? why does the animal doctor kiss a random little kid and show his baby to kids when he visits the school? Why would the kids give a crap about him or his baby whom they've never met before? the kids in the school seemed as confused as me and my family watching this movie. why is the story told out of order? Whats the deal with the fat french man interested in buying the photographer's studio.. who btw was turned down, why is he all the suddenly on the boat? yes he expressed interest in migrating to the wild west as well but, why is introduced in such a manor? why does the animal doctor not realize something is wrong when the dog is barking like crazy and the house is trashed? why does it take him so long to realize something is wrong ONLY when he finds his wife's dead body? is he extra stupid? why was he such a selfish ass hole to his wife when she was still alive? maybe this movies is an arts fartsy piece of crap. why do movies try to make the audience interpret things. it can be interpreted a million ways. it's like charging 100 dollars to see painting i've never seen before then handing me the paint brush and blank canvas. I want to be entertained not be an art major.
why is this movie all out of order and not making much sense?
why is this movie all out of order and not making much sense?
Stunning
The_Pc28 January 2006
Rediscovering Lelouch on DVD, not having seen his films since they were aired on TV in the 70s and 80s, I enjoy them even more than expected.
This is not a western, not a love story, not a historical picture... it is all of it and none of it, it is about how lifes cross depending on random changes of fate. If you like mindless action, down-to-earth westerns or tear-jerkers pass your way as you will not have the patience or the "gusto" to watch (just rent any mindless Stallone or Schwarzenegger movie, that should do). If on the other hand you can be moved by the little things of life and you want a real story, with lots of content and brought with great skill, this is definitely for you. This is not an artsy movie, it's a great movie!
Lelouche has a knack of developing his characters over the duration of his movies, so you feel like you are part of the environment and not someone peeking in on what happens or a distant spectator. In "Un autre homme, une autre chance" he bridges the ocean to tell us about a french woman and an American man that could not be more different. The way they both evolve and finally come together through ups and downs, is made very special exactly by the fact it is so common... a reality show without the voyeuristic element that often leaves a bitter after-taste. It is told with such ease and with great performance of the actors.
Definitely one of Lelouche's best movies and a must-see.
This is not a western, not a love story, not a historical picture... it is all of it and none of it, it is about how lifes cross depending on random changes of fate. If you like mindless action, down-to-earth westerns or tear-jerkers pass your way as you will not have the patience or the "gusto" to watch (just rent any mindless Stallone or Schwarzenegger movie, that should do). If on the other hand you can be moved by the little things of life and you want a real story, with lots of content and brought with great skill, this is definitely for you. This is not an artsy movie, it's a great movie!
Lelouche has a knack of developing his characters over the duration of his movies, so you feel like you are part of the environment and not someone peeking in on what happens or a distant spectator. In "Un autre homme, une autre chance" he bridges the ocean to tell us about a french woman and an American man that could not be more different. The way they both evolve and finally come together through ups and downs, is made very special exactly by the fact it is so common... a reality show without the voyeuristic element that often leaves a bitter after-taste. It is told with such ease and with great performance of the actors.
Definitely one of Lelouche's best movies and a must-see.
One of the few films I have ever walked out of, this thing stunk!
c-dunn-122 November 2005
I saw this movie when I was in the army back in the 1970s. Along with Murder on the Orient Express and Cactus Flower, this is the only other movie I ever walked out of the theater on. My wife came with me to see the movie for something to do. She agreed that it sucked and that we should leave the theater, to do more important things, such as watch the linoleum curl on the kitchen floor. Hey, at least that had some suspense in it. Do yourself a favor, and rent Road Trip or Harold and Kumar instead, they were funny and entertaining, this was artsy stupid crap. Since I have nothing else to say and there is a ten line minimum, I just want to say that this thing stunk.
One of the best films I have seen, produced almost thirty years ago, viewed for the first time today! (2003)
ctodd100018 March 2003
"Un autre homme, une autre chance (1977)"
"Another Man, Another Chance"
This is one of the best films I have seen in years; hard to believe that it was written and directed almost 27 years ago. A lyrical, beautiful and moving film with a storyline so believable, it is as if I were with them, on the dusty roads and the rolling hills and plains, seeing the Great Southwest unfolding before my eyes.
This film is even better if you know some French, but not necessary... The "true to life" historical film has so much meaning on a personal level; it is as if I were "let in" to read someone's private diary, with nothing held back. Such thoughts I wish I had...
Thank you so much, to the director and writer, Claude LeLouch; and to the actors James Caan and Geneviéve Bujold. They are all excellent in every way. I wish I could have "been there" myself at this point in time, and after seeing this film I was able to "live in their painting" for just a little while. I actually watched it two times in a row, it was so beautiful in all ways.
No "blockbuster" needed here; just the storyline of these people's lives. I can't wait to see what other films this fine French director has brought to the screen, as I had never heard of him before. Caan and Bujold are at their finest, as always. Thanks to both of them, as well.
I think I read that this was a true story of the author's grandparents, or greatgrandparents, his grandmother who was French and this was their life. Most interesting of all. We are all immigrants seeking the Promised Land.
With my sincerest and most heartfelt thanks, Catherine Todd
"Another Man, Another Chance"
This is one of the best films I have seen in years; hard to believe that it was written and directed almost 27 years ago. A lyrical, beautiful and moving film with a storyline so believable, it is as if I were with them, on the dusty roads and the rolling hills and plains, seeing the Great Southwest unfolding before my eyes.
This film is even better if you know some French, but not necessary... The "true to life" historical film has so much meaning on a personal level; it is as if I were "let in" to read someone's private diary, with nothing held back. Such thoughts I wish I had...
Thank you so much, to the director and writer, Claude LeLouch; and to the actors James Caan and Geneviéve Bujold. They are all excellent in every way. I wish I could have "been there" myself at this point in time, and after seeing this film I was able to "live in their painting" for just a little while. I actually watched it two times in a row, it was so beautiful in all ways.
No "blockbuster" needed here; just the storyline of these people's lives. I can't wait to see what other films this fine French director has brought to the screen, as I had never heard of him before. Caan and Bujold are at their finest, as always. Thanks to both of them, as well.
I think I read that this was a true story of the author's grandparents, or greatgrandparents, his grandmother who was French and this was their life. Most interesting of all. We are all immigrants seeking the Promised Land.
With my sincerest and most heartfelt thanks, Catherine Todd
Claude Lelouch's best film he ever directed
mistymountain24 August 2010
Well, call it a western or historical fiction, but this film definitely has both of those elements. Claude Lelouch excellently directed this film, which i believe was his first English-speaking or bilingual film. James Caan shines as Dr. David Williams, a widowed American vet, and Genevieve Bujold's performance as Jeanne, a widowed photographer's assistant, is equally impressive. After David's wife, Mary, is found brutally beaten to death, he takes his infant son and moves south where he places him in the care of Alice, an inept schoolteacher, wonderfully played by Susan Tyrrell. Jeanne and her photographer boyfriend, Francis, played by Francis Huster, flee France and come to America for a better life. They set up a photography studio in the West, and get married. But then tragedy strikes, and Jeanne becomes a widow with a baby girl. It's not until several years later that her and David's paths cross. Beautiful love story.
Things Always Work Out In A Lelouch Film, Don't They?
boblipton2 April 2020
Photographer Francis Huster convinces Genevieve Bujold to abandon their native Paris and make a new life in the American west. They get married on the wagon train and settle in a small but growing city; he is shot because of his incessant picture taking. Meanwhile, veterinarian James Caan has a nagging wife, who wants they to move from their ranch. She dies in childbirth.
Director Claude Lelouch is the most unabashedly romantic director since Frank Borzage. As a result, you keep wondering when Caan and Mlle Bujold are going to stop mourning and start living again. There's no sign of the ineluctable workings of fate here, just the chance of a rebirth in the New World, with Caan at his most masculine, and Mlle Bujold indescribably cute.
Veteran cinematographer Stanley Cortez has his last credit here, capturing, along with Jacques Lefrancois, Lelouch's wide-eyed view of the beauties and weirdnesses of the Old West.
Director Claude Lelouch is the most unabashedly romantic director since Frank Borzage. As a result, you keep wondering when Caan and Mlle Bujold are going to stop mourning and start living again. There's no sign of the ineluctable workings of fate here, just the chance of a rebirth in the New World, with Caan at his most masculine, and Mlle Bujold indescribably cute.
Veteran cinematographer Stanley Cortez has his last credit here, capturing, along with Jacques Lefrancois, Lelouch's wide-eyed view of the beauties and weirdnesses of the Old West.
great story
kosmo515014 March 2010
Interesting to read some other reviews here talk of how art plays a role in this film, and how that's a bad or somehow less appealing thing. Maybe it's the genre they see as this not working well. For some, a simpler film may be best. But this film integrates a variety of story lines and looks to take the viewer on a forward and backward ride forcing you to think about what you missed and what is yet to come. With that, it's too complicated, too artsy if you will, for a dumbed down less sophisticated American movie audience. Sad that some miss this, but see the film for yourself and appreciate film making for the art IT IS!!! American film audiences have a lot of work to do! Otherwise, I love the film for the French language and story line in Paris because I love French, France, and Paris!
Excellent Sweeping Film About Life In The West
brileyvandyke2 October 2022
I admit I watched this only because I am a huge James Caan fan. I came away really loving this film. It follows the lives of a French couple who are photographers who come to the American west and also of an American couple already settled in the west. We follow these characters and see how lives separately lived and the events that unfold in those lives and how it all comes together to entwine people who otherwise wouldn't meet. Fascinating film a very European feel to this one. Caan is excellent as is Bujold and Huster. Fun supporting cast. Watch this if you haven't. Gotta see Caan shooting pool from horseback!
Outstanding in some ways, odd in others
philosopherjack24 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Claude Lelouch's Another Man, Another Chance feels almost dizzyingly expansive in its opening stretches, switching between a low-key Western starring James Caan as David Williams, a veterinarian who starts a new life after his wife is murdered, and a drama set in a war-devastated Paris with Genevieve Bujold; when the Bujold character, Jeanne Leroy, and her photographer husband decide to emigrate to the US, the two strands gradually coalesce (some of the plot details are directly recycled from Lelouch's biggest success Un homme et une femme). The film contains some outstanding period feeling - I've seldom for instance seen the centrality to the community of the regular stagecoach route evoked so fully - and striking single takes, such as an early one showcasing Caan's horseriding and roping skills; the muted colour pallet and low-key acting (with close-ups of the principals kept to an extreme minimum) all work well. But Lelouch also throws in a regular stream of oddities, from a disconnected prologue with Caan playing a descendant of his main character, through the soundtrack's recurringly jarring use of the famous notes from Beethoven's Fifth, to an ending so low-key that it almost feels as if they just ran out of celluloid. Still, overall, the film crafts a distinctive emotional space, basing the relationship between the two (as far as one can tell - there's not much to go on) more in mutual logic (by that point for example, they're both single parents) than passion; Bujold's regular recurrence to her native language, and insistence on trying to teach it to her rapidly Americanizing daughter, suggests their relationship will be inherently defined in part by distance and loss (the final voice over tells us that she never achieved her dream of returning to Paris). Lelouch has remained true to his idiosyncratic instincts and their consequent mixed results: for instance, his late film The Best Years of a Life contains some unforgettable close observation of the aged Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimee, within a slack overall scheme incorporating ill-judged fantasy inserts.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
