Paul and Michelle (1974)

Touches You

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Here is an email I received from him a year ago (2014):Firstly, may I thank you so much for taking the time to write to express how those films made you feel... It was all such a long time ago now. But it has lingered in the hearts of so many and I am always humbled to receive mails from those for whom it had a special meaning.   As you say Anicee was a very beautiful kind lady. I have just had my 60th birthday a few days ago.... and am still receiving very touching letters from all over the world. I keep the fond memories of the making of the film in my heart and so appreciate the touching response from those who, like you, have taken the trouble to write to me. I recently made contact with a chap in Thailand at scorpion DVDs ( @ Amazon) Nathan has been kind enough to sell me a few copies of "Friends" that was released by Paramount Japan (so I am led to believe). It might be worth your while looking him up and seeing if he has a suitable copy for your part of the world. I know the copies work here in the UK as my step grand daughters have recently finally got to see it.   P and M was never released on DVD as far as I am aware. I have no contact with the industry I used to know since the small part I played in the Bond film "The Spy who loved me"... and I only did that because Lewis Gilbert was kind enough to ring me and ask if I wanted a small part in it..... so more out of curiosity than serious professional commitment I did it... with my elder brother in it too!   I have absolutely no IT qualifications I'm afraid so an electronic signature would not be possible. I would be interested to know if you manage to get a copy that suits your machine there as I do get asked more and more.   I think the film captured a moment in time of 2 young kids growing up in real life..... and Lewis's very careful handling of not only the characters but also of Anicee and myself during the process of rehearsals and subsequent shooting. The wonderfully good fortune of Elton's music and the musical arrangement of Paul Buckmaster..... like so many things in life..... you can have the best ingredients in a cooking pot.... but you are never sure of the outcome. The result was I still think just a very sweet little film that caught a moment in time that resonated with so many.   I thank you from the bottom of my heart and wish you both a wonderful continuation of life.... and may joy and happiness follow both you and Judith all your days.   Kind regards and very humbled   Sean Bury

This is the sequel to the unlikely 1971 hit "Friends", a movie about rich British boy living in Paris who meets a poor, orphaned French girl and runs off with her to "play house" in the countryside, only to end up with a child. It's three years later and Paul has just graduated as head boy from a tony private school and is planning to attend the Sorbonne in the fall. He decides to spend the summer seeking out Michelle and his illegitimate child (apparently they'd never heard of legally obligated child support in France at the time). He finds her living with another man (Keir Dullea), who is an accomplished judo master. Just when you think Paul is finally going to get his teeth kicked down his throat (after he takes Michelle to a cheap hotel for sex on their first get-reacquainted date), Dullea's character does something quite unbelievable instead which clears the way for the movie to needlessly cover the EXACT same ground it had already trod in the first film.The best reason to see this film is no doubt beautiful French actress Anicee Alvina, who is obviously no less appealing here at 20 than she was at 17 in the earlier film. Once again, she has plenty of nude scenes (including a flashback) that are each, of course, completely essential to the plot. Far be it from me to complain about THAT, but by this time Alvina had begun to appear in deranged Alain Robbe-Grillet art/porn films and the above-par Italian giallo "Anima Persae", which make just as good of use her, but are also much more worthwhile viewing than this rather saccharine film. And Alvina also didn't have to speak English in those films. Usually, cute French girls with accents are even more sexy, but Alvina seems to speak English only phonetically in both of these movies, and it gets more than a little irritating.I also can't rave about Elton John, who provided the surprising hit song for the first film, but the music in this sequel is much, much worse than even the worst dreck in the Elton John oeuvre. This film is not really a bad film, but it simply has no reason to really exist, no real "raison d'etre" (hey, I think my French is better than Alvina's English). They should probably have just quit while they were ahead. . .

I rented "Friends" in the local video store and then learned that a sequel was actually made. No video store carried it so I had to spend $12.00 to find out what happened with Paul and Michelle.My favorite part was their reunion, which fortunately, was not dragged out - when they are alone again, it reminded me of two people having an affair where reality is totally blocked out - you just want them to continue, and you don't want reality to come, but it does in due course. Sylvie, who is now three years old, is a really cute little girl, but just doesn't fit the picture when Paul and Michelle eventually return to the countryside cabin. Reality does come in true form when Paul goes back to college - what really ruined it was seeing him with another girl, considering all the trouble he went through to find Michelle again in the first place.The movie ends with one main question - what the heck happens three years later? They seem to have a love for one another that will undoubtedly draw them together once again.It is worth a look to see what happened with these star-crossed teenage lovers and how they matured physically in appearance. Truthfully, they both got much better looking.

CONTAINS SPOILER!!!! Although "Paul and Michelle" isn't as good as "Friends" as some would say it still holds its own. I actually saw this one before I saw the Friends. Anicee Alvina and Sean Bury still have good chemistry together. The thing about this movie that upset me was the ending. Why would the director wait three years to make a sequal and then in the end have the two seperate. I would have liked to see them stay together and get married. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes a love story. There are quite a few good moments in the movie. But it's not as magical as "Friends".