Vincent, François, Paul et les autres

The three friends Vincent (Yves Montand), a company director, François (Michel Piccoli), a doctor, and Paul (Serge Reggiani), a writer, meet every Sunday in the countryside with their entourage of friends, wives and partners. Their friendship would appear to be the only consistent factor in their lives as problems with work and/or personal relationships are rife. In particular, Vincent faces a double strain of company deficits and separation from his wife, which leads to a heart attack forcing the trio to take stock of their situation.

Claude Sautet’s seventh film was made at the height of his career and further testifies to the director’s vast capacity to recount human stories with a depth of characterisation so rarely seen in cinema. The characters are drawn out with such patience and skill; laid bare in all their glory and complexity, faults and all. A stellar cast perfectly embodies the intricacies of the story. In addition to the three leads, Gérard Depardieu (a younger friend of the trio) and Stéphane Audran (Vincent’s estranged wife Catherine) stand out in their supporting roles. Once again Sautet’s regular collaborators Jean Boffety, Philippe Sarde and Jean-Loup Dabadie respectively deliver lush cinematography, a haunting score and candid dialogue.

In the absence of his muse Romy Schneider, Sautet focuses his film on the nature of friendship, something of such importance in everybody’s life but often given less attention on the screen in favour romantic relationships. Think Graham Swift’s Last Orders, with pubs and pints switched for wine and cheese in the French countryside.