An unexpected masterpiece

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I have seen the film just a few nights ago.I agree that the futuristic part is enigmatic but it is also magic. Leloush couldn't give it up for the best reasons,and it is very dramatic to the story/legend that he is trying to tell us here. That part was taken at turkey,on the biblical site in the goreme valley, a cave town called the "The Witches Chimney's"- directly referring the Holocaust. Also, it is both futuristic & prehistoric land. This is the birthplace of nations in the bible. A place not far from Eden and Arrarat mountain. His point of view is panoramic and spectacular in that sense, and vital to the film which is an allegory before everything else. He points us the ongoing clash of traditions, nationalities,international politics and genders in one film which makes it a masterpiece to me. He also rewrites a totally different story of a man & woman, his classic, in historic context, only after 8 years.

"And Now My Love" sums up the curious qualities of director Claude Lelouch. While his talents are in abundance he ultimately lacks the ability to pull it off. What has the makings of a classic in the final analysis can only be regarded as a failure.In a masterly fashion, Lelouch deftly orchestrates the eventual meeting of a man and woman who destiny decrees should be together. It's a romantic notion that has been at the centre of numerous movies, but seldom so wittily and intelligently dished up as in "And Now My Love". The entire movie consists of the winding paths that the protagonists follow until their eventual meeting. Lelouch embroiders this process with historical fact, social criticism and much humor.However the eventual meeting of the predestined coupling is something of a letdown. The chemistry simply isn't there. When the movie was first released it ended with this somewhat unsatisfactory finale. But despite the ending, the film as whole had enough charm to leave a favorable impression. However Lelouch must have been troubled by the poor resolution to his master work and in what can only be conceived as a desperate measure, he tacks on a truly ludicrous appendage, which instead of salvaging the film, completely sinks it.His sci-fi ending is a disastrous artistic decision. Anything else would have been preferable. Unfortunately the DVD edition does not allow the option for viewing the edited version. So after well over two hours of much enjoyment one is subject to an ending which leaves a particularly bad taste.

I've loved this movie since I first saw it in 1974. I've been waiting to show it to my wife for years and was delighted to find it had been put on DVD. It went along wonderfully until what I had known as to be the end suddenly jumped into an additional 20 minutes containing a futuristic (for 1974) pessimistic segment of the story. Although it tied into an earlier scene in the film (also left out of the original release), it was easy to see why this had been left out (in the US at least)...IT WAS STUPID. Furthermore, it changed the entire context of the film. What had been a wonderfully romantic story showing how two people destined to find each other after the events of their lives have shaped them had now become some bizarre cut rate version of Soylent Green. Such a shame. At least when a movie like this is released on DVD they could have made the "unedited version" optional, as was done on the My Darling Clementine DVD. All it shows me is that the editor is usually right from the start and giving the director's a chance to re-cut their film does not always result in an improvement.

Lelouch, the master of finding the humour and tragic desperation within human relationships has crafted a signature piece of romance for all us romantics. One annoying flaw is repetitiveness that could have been better edited, but the grand perspective is well worth the extra half hour. The film misses greatness but is well worth watching.