Hasards ou coïncidences (1998)
Directed by Claude Lelouch

Film Review

Since his popular 1966 film Un homme et une femme brought him international fame, French director Claude Lelouch has continued to churn out bittersweet romantic films which have consistently found more favour with the cinema-going public than with the critics. Hasards ou coïncidences is one of Lelouch's better efforts in this series of artistically over-egged crowdpleasers, a more serious attempt at a romantic drama that lacks the off-putting emotional and cinematographic excesses of his previous films. It is a film that deals more sensitively, more compassionately than we might expect with the themes of bereavement and obsessive love, with authentic performances from Alessandra Martines, Pierre Arditi and Marc Hollogne more than making up for any deficiencies in the script or directorial lapses by Lelouch. One of the most charming qualities of Claude Lelouch's inimitable brand of cinema is that his films are always brimming with life and this one is no different. The exuberance of the mise-en-scène, coupled with the hopping between picturesque locations in France, Quebec and Italy and a lush score from Claude Bolling and Francis Lai, imbues the film with an irresistible vitality. Though it deals with sombre themes, Hasards ou coïncidences is as uplifting a slice of life as you can imagine.

Film Synopsis

Miriam Lini used to be a highly successful dancer, before she decided to give up her career and devote herself to bringing up her son, Serge.  It is during a trip to Venice that she meets Pierre, an art forger whom she cannot resist falling in love with.  What follows is a happy romantic idyll, which ends suddenly with the tragic death of both Pierre and Serge during a stay in Canada.  Miriam deals with this loss by going on a tour with her son's camcorder, filming all the places he would have wanted to visit.  Then another calamity befalls her: the camcorder is stolen.

The precious camcorder falls into the hands of a Belgian man named Marc Deschamps, who has been giving lectures in which he claims there is no such thing as chance or coincidence in life.  Intrigued by the recordings he discovers on the camcorder, Marc immediately sets out to find its previous owner.  When he does finally catch up with Myriam, she refuses to have anything to do with him, believing he stole the device from her.  Marc then marries another woman, Catherine, but is still so preoccupied with Myriam than his new wife soon abandons him.  It looks as if fate is determined to bring Marc and Myriam together - or is it all pure coincidence?