Jean-Paul Rappeneau made only eight feature films in his entire career as a director. However, each of them has a special charm, and in all of them you can feel the hand of a professional director, who knows the secrets of the job but especially who knows how to work with actors. ‘Le sauvage‘ (the English title is ‘Lovers Like Us‘) made in 1975, is a romantic comedy whose story takes place in an exotic landscape. Many films of this kind have been made – American and French in particular – but this one remained in the memory of viewers who saw it almost 50 years ago and has a good chance of being enjoyed by contemporary audiences as well. Much of the credit goes to the two stars – Catherine Deneuve and Yves Montand – whose spell has remained intact.
The story begins in Caracas, Venezuela. Nelly, a beautiful French blonde, flees away from her impending marriage to an Italian with mafioso manners and with an overwhelming family. On the way, she steals a Toulouse-Lautrec painting from her former patron. In a hotel in the city, she meets by chance Martin, a rather strange and very unshaven man, who helps her escape from her pursuers and catch a flight to Paris. Neither she nor the painting pass the customs officers at the airport, and the two will find themselves (to the man’s surprise) on the off-shore island in the Caribbean where Martin leads a Robinson-like life. The inevitable will occur, but many other surprising adventures will also take place, as Martin is also constantly being followed and has his own personal reasons for fleeing the ‘civilized’ world.
Almost everything works perfectly in Rappeneau‘s film. The dialogues are well written, funny all the time, with a drop of melodrama when needed, making the bond between the two heroes believable. In many films of this kind the relationships between older men and young and sparkingly beautiful women have something artificial, but not here. Catherine Deneuve is charming and makes us forget to wonder that she is always well made up and coiffed, even though she is on an isolated island. Yves Montand radiates the magnetism that made him play numerous roles of irresistible heart-breakers despite his physique far from ideal. The two make up a pair of shrews who tame each other, in deeds and with delicious dialogues. Action scenes have pace and humor, and car chases with 1960s American cars fueled by 1970s Venezuelan oil will delight retro car lovers. Michel Legrand‘s music and Pierre Lhomme‘s visuals fit perfectly into the production. ‘Le sauvage‘ is a good entertainment film made in the 1970s which remains a good entertainment film for 2020s viewers.