Romy Shneider and Michel Piccoli in “Les Choses de la Vie“

A master-class for film production students: The much underrated Claude Sautet’s “Les Choses de la Vie“ (1970). Besides the brilliance of the script, editing, and directing of the pivotal accident scene (unbelievably better than Iñárritu’s overrated “21 Grams“), this restaurant sequence is a showcase for the actors’ abilities. Pay especial attention to Romy Schneider’s wonderfully organic changes of the mood, and Michel Piccoli’s effortlessly insouciant look. Here’s an English transcription of what they sa