Under the glossy sheen of what was sold as a romantic comedy, Stanley Donen's incomparable film, "Two for the Road," is at heart the dissection of a relationship between two people over a decade of their life together. During the course of the film, Mark and Joanna Wallace mature from two carefree young individuals into a union of two people, which is stronger than the sum of its parts. Frederic Raphael's Oscar-nominated screenplay relates the story of this couple through a series of car trips across France. The trips vary as the years pass, and most are taken together, although one is with another couple, and one is with their young daughter. As the couple's affluence grows, the cars become more expensive, the clothes more stylish, and the two partners more distant. Early in their lives, Mark and Joanna note a man and woman sitting in a restaurant without looking or speaking to each other. Joanna asks: "What kind of people sit in a restaurant and don't talk to each other." Mark replies: "Married people." After a decade together, Mark and Joanna sit in a restaurant together without speaking. While lacking the cynicism of Stephen's Sondheim's views on marriage, Raphael makes his point.
If the film had been told in a straightforward time line, the results would have been ordinary at best. However, Raphael has fractured time, and the stories unravel in bits and pieces that are inter cut to compare and contrast Mark and Joanna and their relationship as it grows and reacts to life. Some of the cuts are amusing such as a scene when the couple is hitchhiking and a car passes them without stopping. Mark says: "I'll never pass a hitchhiker without stopping." The film jumps to Mark who, during a subsequent trip, passes a hitchhiking couple without even a glance at them. The cuts are not flashbacks, however, because the characters are not remembering the past. As the director, Stanley Donen, put it, every scene is the present, which makes the film a revolving prism that reflects various facets of the union of these two people at different points in their lives. Perhaps this unique structure is what has made the film so appealing to so many viewers. Everyone sees the film from his or her own experiences and stage of life. As the viewer matures and changes, so does his or her relationship to the film and its characters.
With a sophisticated script to work from, the actors were at the top of their form. Arguably, Audrey Hepburn has never been better and displayed a range unrivaled in her other films as she matures from a young collegiate on tour to a sophisticated, but bored, wife of a successful architect. Albert Finney was never more attractive, and his chemistry with Hepburn is essential to the film's success. An American couple, played to perfection by Eleanor Bron and William Daniels, and their daughter, Ruthie, who travel with the Mark and Joanna on one trip, are the film's comedy relief. The anal husband, snobbish wife, and insufferable child comprise a family that Joanna desperately does not want to become or to share an automobile with.
Beautiful wide-screen cinematography of the French countryside by Christopher Challis and one of Henry Mancini's finest scores only enhance this masterwork further. The collaboration of Henry Mancini, Stanley Donen, and Audrey Hepburn, which worked so well on "Charade," reached a peak with "Two for the Road." Like other films that used fractured time, such as "Citizen Kane" and "Memento," "Two for the Road" does not pale under repeated viewings, because the structure makes it difficult to anticipate the order of sequences and the film always seems fresh. Only the screenplay's over-reliance on phrase repetition in the dialog exchanges and the ongoing gag about misplaced passports wear thin. But, despite any minor quibbles, this viewer is always willing to take another trip across France with Mark and Joanna. When the film draws to a conclusion and the couple cross a border both literally and figuratively, their final exchange is: "Bitch," "Bastard." To which all I can add is: Brilliant.
If the film had been told in a straightforward time line, the results would have been ordinary at best. However, Raphael has fractured time, and the stories unravel in bits and pieces that are inter cut to compare and contrast Mark and Joanna and their relationship as it grows and reacts to life. Some of the cuts are amusing such as a scene when the couple is hitchhiking and a car passes them without stopping. Mark says: "I'll never pass a hitchhiker without stopping." The film jumps to Mark who, during a subsequent trip, passes a hitchhiking couple without even a glance at them. The cuts are not flashbacks, however, because the characters are not remembering the past. As the director, Stanley Donen, put it, every scene is the present, which makes the film a revolving prism that reflects various facets of the union of these two people at different points in their lives. Perhaps this unique structure is what has made the film so appealing to so many viewers. Everyone sees the film from his or her own experiences and stage of life. As the viewer matures and changes, so does his or her relationship to the film and its characters.
With a sophisticated script to work from, the actors were at the top of their form. Arguably, Audrey Hepburn has never been better and displayed a range unrivaled in her other films as she matures from a young collegiate on tour to a sophisticated, but bored, wife of a successful architect. Albert Finney was never more attractive, and his chemistry with Hepburn is essential to the film's success. An American couple, played to perfection by Eleanor Bron and William Daniels, and their daughter, Ruthie, who travel with the Mark and Joanna on one trip, are the film's comedy relief. The anal husband, snobbish wife, and insufferable child comprise a family that Joanna desperately does not want to become or to share an automobile with.
Beautiful wide-screen cinematography of the French countryside by Christopher Challis and one of Henry Mancini's finest scores only enhance this masterwork further. The collaboration of Henry Mancini, Stanley Donen, and Audrey Hepburn, which worked so well on "Charade," reached a peak with "Two for the Road." Like other films that used fractured time, such as "Citizen Kane" and "Memento," "Two for the Road" does not pale under repeated viewings, because the structure makes it difficult to anticipate the order of sequences and the film always seems fresh. Only the screenplay's over-reliance on phrase repetition in the dialog exchanges and the ongoing gag about misplaced passports wear thin. But, despite any minor quibbles, this viewer is always willing to take another trip across France with Mark and Joanna. When the film draws to a conclusion and the couple cross a border both literally and figuratively, their final exchange is: "Bitch," "Bastard." To which all I can add is: Brilliant.