“A Man and a Woman” (Un Homme et Une Femme) is a 1966 French film written and directed by Claude LeLouche, starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The soundtrack was written by Francis Lai (who later wrote the music for “Love Story”) and received "Best Original Score" nominations in 1967 at both the BAFTA Awards and Golden Globe Awards. The film's theme song, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Pierre Barouh, was nominated for "Best Original Song in a Motion Picture" at the Golden Globes. 

The film concerns a widow and widower who meet at their children's boarding school. Their budding relationship is complicated by memories of their deceased spouses. Pierre Barouh (1934-2016) and Nicole Croisille (1936-) sang vocals in the film for the principal actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée. 

The film incorporated distinguishing characteristics that contributed to its impact and popularity. The soundtrack itself was a star of the show and unusually was written and recorded before the filming. Lelouche actually brought the music to the set and the actors improvised their play to the tune of the songs. Large chunks of the film had no dialogue at all and the music carried the visual narrative. The cinematography incorporated shifts in time via flashbacks that synchronized with changes in the colors of the film between black-and-white, color, and sepia tones. The music provided the cohesive connective tissue between the shifts in time and color. 

Two songs from the film are included below ("Plus Fort Que Nous" and "L'Ombre de Nous"). Although neither is posted on YouTube with French subtitles, the lyrics are translated on the respective Song pages that are linked below. Besides these two songs, a sidebar for music history is that Pierre Barouh convinced Lelouche and Lai to include a background musical track called “Samba Saravah.”  It was performed by Barouh and adapted from original music (“Samba de Bencao”) by Brazilian musicians Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes. This had an indelible impact on the penetration of “bossa nova” sound in France and Europe. That song is featured separately on this page below.

Barouh also acted the role of Anouk Aimée's deceased husband. Curiously, as though life were replicating fiction, Barouh and Aimée married in 1966 but divorced in 1969. In 1966, Barouh launched an independent music label named “Saravah” to promote cross-pollination of chanson, jazz, soul, African and Brazilian music. In 1969, he produced a documentary on Brazilian music under the same name. Many French musicians, like Georges Moustaki, subsequently fell under the Brazilian spell. As for Barouh, he moved on to Japan and created a fusion of chanson and Japanese electro-pop in his album “Le Pollen.”Croisille appeared in 24 films and recorded several albums between 1961 and 2005.