The Things of Life (French: Les Choses de la vie) is a 1970 French romantic drama film directed by Claude Sautet and starring Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider.
Pierre (Piccoli), an architect, separated from his wife and now lives with her lover Hélène (Schneider). They plan to leave Paris to settle in Tunis.
Pierre suddenly decides to postpone their move to go on vacation with his son Bertrand in a secondary residence where he used to spend holidays with his ex-wife. Hélène is angry about this change of plan.
Pierre leaves her abruptly to go on a business trip to Rennes.
A remake, Intersection was made in 1994. It stars Richard Gere and Sharon Stone.
The Things of Life provides examples of:
- Amicable Exes: Pierre and his ex-wife Catherine get along well. They have friendly conversations. He even considers inviting Catherine and her new lover to his wedding with Hélène.
- Anachronic Order: The film starts with the car accident, then it goes back a few days earlier when Pierre and Hélène were planning to move to Tunis. Later, there are several Flashbacks that tell Pierre's backstory.
- Auction: Pierre met Hélène in an auction where he bid higher than her for a piece of furniture.
- Beta Couple: Like Hélène and Pierre, the couple whose car broke down quarrels for unimportant things. They give Pierre food for thought about his own couple.
- Downer Ending: Pierre dies. His friends and relatives are devastated. The only good thing is that Catherine destroys the letter.
- Dream Sequence: When he is unconscious after the car accident, Pierre dreams of his wedding with Hélène. He realizes that it is a dream when he notices that the people involved in the car accident are among the guests.
- The Film of the Book: The film is based on a 1967 novel by Paul Guimard, Intersection.
- Foregone Conclusion: The film starts with the car accident, so the viewer knows that the trip to Rennes will not be all right, but does not know if Pierre will survive.
- The Hero Dies: The protagonist, Pierre, dies in a hospital after a car accident.
- How We Got Here: The film starts with the car accident, then it goes back a few days earlier and we are shown what happened up to the accident. The last part of the film tells what happened during the hours that followed the accident. The whole film is interspersed with Flashbacks.
- I Didn't Tell You Because You'd Be Unhappy: Catherine reads the break-up letter written by Pierre for Hélène and destroys it to protect Hélène's feelings.
- Inner Monologue: After the accident, the thoughts of Pierre are dubbed into the soundtrack. So we know that he wants the letter to be destroyed.
- Irrevocable Message: Pierre writes a break-up letter for Hélène, but shortly thereafter he realizes that he loves her and does not send the letter, but keeps it in his pocket. After the car accident, Pierre is unconscious, but in his Inner Monologue he hopes to destroy the letter. Unfortunately, the letter is found and given to Catherine among other personal objects. Catherine reads the letter and destroys it to protect Hélène's feelings.
- Overcrank: The car accident is shown twice: first in slow motion, then at a normal speed.
- Poor Communication Kills: Pierre and Hélène's quarrel is caused by a lack of communication. Hélène assumes that Pierre wants to go on vacation with his son to take up with Catherine again, but it does not seem to be the case. When Hélène tells Pierre that she thinks he wants to rekindle his marriage, Pierre does not answer the accusation because he is upset and goes abruptly on a business trip. Pierre eventually realizes that he loves Hélène and cannot break up with her, but he does not have the time to tell her before the car accident.
- Second Love: Both Pierre and Catherine have found a new love after separating.
- Visit by Divorced Dad: Pierre separated from Catherine. He visits his son who lives with his ex-wife and he decides to go on vacation with him.
- Working with the Ex: Pierre works with his ex-wife Catherine.
