Les Pas perdus (1964)
Directed by Jacques Robin

Film Review

René Fallet is probably best known as the author of the novel La Soupe aux choux, which was adapted for cinema by Jean Girault in the early 1980s and is much loved by fans of the great comic actor Louis de Funès.  It wasn't Fallet's first brush with the cinema - several other works of his had already been adapted - notably Les Vieux de la vieille (1960) - and he had also scripted a number of films.  Les Pas perdus is one of the few occasions where Fallet adapted his own novel, and he even appeared on screen (for the first time) in a small but hard-to-miss minor role as a bistro owner.  Given that Fallet's forte was comedy, it is surprising to find him penning a romantic drama that looks uncannily like a precursor to Claude Lelouch's Un homme et une femme (1966) - and not only because these two films share the same lead actor, Jean-Louis Trintignant, in a very similar role.

Like Lelouch, the film's director Jacques Robin was keen to make his mark and was obviously influenced by the French New Wave (which by this time had almost come and gone).  Before he made his directorial debut with Les Pas perdus, Robin had already proved to be a very capable cinematographer, bringing a lustrous modernity to Robert Hossein's early directorial offerings - La Nuit des espions (1959) and Les Scélérats (1960).  Later, he would have greater impact on the films he photographed for Alain Jessua - Jeu de massacre (1967), Traitement de choc (1973), and also Les Amis (1967), arguably the best film directed by Gérard Blain.  As a director, Jacques Robin made next to no impression.  His Nouvelle Vague-like Les Pas perdus passed without notice and his second (and last feature) Monsieur Sade (1977) was no more successful.

It is tempting to write off Les Pas perdus as a lightweight version of Un homme et une femme.  However, despite the obvious imitation of the early films of the French New Wave, it does just about stand on its own merits.  The script and direction may not be much to write home about, but the film does at least deliver the goods on the acting front, with captivating lead performances from two of French cinema's enduring icons, Michèle Morgan and Jean-Louis Trintignant.  The eccentric casting also includes Catherine Rouvel and Jean Carmet, whose obvious incongruity becomes part of the film's indefinable charm.

Just as Morgan's acting career was beginning to wind down (her greatest screen roles were by now long behind her), Trintignant's was only just starting up.  The actor, who would soon find international fame through Claude Lelouch's film, had first been noticed in Roger Vadim's Et Dieu... créa la femme (1956), and for the early part of his career he would be pretty well typecast as the timid romantic, the role that suited him perfectly.  Neither of the lead actors is helped by Fallet's lacklustre, overly conventional screenplay, which is essentially a heavy-handed reworking of David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945), but Trintignant at least brings a solidity and a subtle poignancy to his portrayal, which Morgan singularly fails to do, although she is (as ever) stunning to look at.

It's the classic tale of a pair of photogenic idealists succumbing to a delusional romantic entanglement that is bound to end badly, offering more wearying longueurs than surprises.  Had the director been more inclined to forge his own style instead of aping his contemporaries (missing the boat as he does so) the end result might have been more impressive.  Trintignant's quietly engaging performance - a dry-run for the one that would make him a star a few years later - and Morgan's regal, ethereal presence are just about all that this melancholic heart-crusher has going for it, but that's enough to make it worth watching.

Film Synopsis

Georges Guichard is a young artist who makes his living painting billboards in Paris.  One day, he meets Yolande Simonnet, an attractive woman to whom he is strongly attracted, even though she is considerably older than he is.  Yolande's admission that she is already married and has two children does not dissuade Georges from carrying on an intense love affair with her.  Within a few weeks, the two are consumed by their amorous passion and are contemplating their future life together.  But, on the day that they plan to go away for a romantic holiday, Georges receives a telephone call from Yolande's husband requesting him to present himself at his offices.  Far from showing anger, Monsieur Simonnet does his best to convince Georges that there can be no future in his affair with Yolande.  It is only when he reads a letter from his lover that Georges realises the truth of this...