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The Things of Life

The Things of Life

Drama · Romance · 1970

The mind of Pierre Bérard, a successful middle-aged architect, is torn between his unstable present with Hélène, his younger lover, and his happy memories of the past with Catherine, his ex-wife; but his true destiny awaits him at a crossroads on his way to Rennes…

Movie details

The Things of Life

1970 Drama · Romance 1h 29m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

The mind of Pierre Bérard, a successful middle-aged architect, is torn between his unstable present with Hélène, his younger lover, and his happy memories of the past with Catherine, his ex-wife; but his true destiny awaits him at a crossroads on his way to Rennes…

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Things of Life?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Beloved

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Claude Sautet

Written by

Jean-Loup Dabadie · Paul Guimard · Claude Sautet

Michel Piccoli

Michel Piccoli

Pierre Bérard

Romy Schneider

Romy Schneider

Hélène

Lea Massari

Lea Massari

Catherine Bérard

Gérard Lartigau

Gérard Lartigau

Bertrand Bérard

Jean Bouise

Jean Bouise

François

Boby Lapointe

Boby Lapointe

The Livestock Truck Driver

Hervé Sand

Hervé Sand

The Truck Driver

Court is in session

Put The Things of Life on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.