Pierre Barouh & Nicole Croisille: Profile
“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 and whose budding relationship is complicated by memories of their deceased spouses. Pierre Barouh (1934-2016) and Nicole Croisille (1936-) sang vocals in the film for Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée. Barouh acted the role of the deceased husband. Barouh and Aimée married in 1966 and divorced in 1969. Croisille appeared in 24 films between 1961 and 2005 and recorded several albums after 1961. Two songs from the film are included below ("Plus Fort Que Nous" and "L'Ombre de Nous"), neither of which is posted on YouTube with French subtitles but the lyrics are translated on our Song pages.
Besides these two songs, a sidebar for music history is that Pierre Barouh convinced Lelouche and Lai to include a background musical track “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. It is featured below.
The film concerns a widow and widower who meet at their children's boarding school and whose budding relationship is complicated by memories of their deceased spouses. Pierre Barouh (1934-2016) and Nicole Croisille (1936-) sang vocals in the film for Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée. Barouh acted the role of the deceased husband. Barouh and Aimée married in 1966 and divorced in 1969. Croisille appeared in 24 films between 1961 and 2005 and recorded several albums after 1961. Two songs from the film are included below ("Plus Fort Que Nous" and "L'Ombre de Nous"), neither of which is posted on YouTube with French subtitles but the lyrics are translated on our Song pages.
Besides these two songs, a sidebar for music history is that Pierre Barouh convinced Lelouche and Lai to include a background musical track “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. It is featured below.
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 a fusion of chanson and Japanese electro-pop in his album “Le Pollen.”
Barouh and Croisille Songs:
Plus Fort Que Nous (Stronger Than Us)
A L'Ombre de Nous (In Our Shadow)