The Two of Us

A young Jewish boy living in Nazi-occupied Paris is sent by his parents to the countryside to live with an elderly Catholic couple until France's liberation. Forced to hide his identity, the eight-year-old, Claude (played delicately by first-time actor Alain Cohen), bonds with the irascible, staunchly anti-Semitic Grampa (Michel Simon), who improbably becomes his friend and confidant. Poignant and lighthearted, The Two of Us was acclaimed director Claude Berri's debut feature, based on own childhood experiences, and gave the legendary Simon one of his most memorable roles in the twilight of his career.

France
1967
87 minutes
Black & White
1.66:1
French
Spine #388

Special Features

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Le poulet (1962), director Claude Berri’s Oscar-winning short film
New video interviews with Berri and actor Alain Cohen
Interviews from 1967 with Berri and Michel Simon
An excerpt from “The Jewish Children of Occupied France,” a 1975 French talk-show segment featuring Berri and the woman who helped secure his family’s safety during World War II
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A new essay by critic David Sterritt, an appreciation of the film by François Truffaut, and excerpts from Berri’s memoir

New cover by F. Ron Miller

DVD 1 Disc Out Of Print SRP: $39.95

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Le poulet (1962), director Claude Berri’s Oscar-winning short film
New video interviews with Berri and actor Alain Cohen
Interviews from 1967 with Berri and Michel Simon
An excerpt from “The Jewish Children of Occupied France,” a 1975 French talk-show segment featuring Berri and the woman who helped secure his family’s safety during World War II
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A new essay by critic David Sterritt, an appreciation of the film by François Truffaut, and excerpts from Berri’s memoir

New cover by F. Ron Miller

Cast & Credits

Cast

Michel Simon: Grampa
Alain Cohen: Claude Langmann
Charles Denner: Mr. Langmann
Luce Fabiole: Grandma
Roger Carel: Victor
Paul Prébois: Maxime
Jacqueline Rouillard: Schoolteacher
Marco Perrin: Priest

Credits

Director: Claude Berri
Screenplay: Claude Berri
Screenplay: Gérard Brach
Screenplay: Michel Rivelin
Producer: André Hunebelle
Producer: Paul Cadéac
Music: Georges Delerue
Cinematography: Jean Penzer
Cameraman: Jean Chiabaut

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Georges Delerue

Composer

Composer Georges Delerue, once named “the Mozart of cinema” by the French newspaper Le Figaro, wrote more than 350 film and television scores, along with pop songs, ballads, and orchestral pieces. In the course of his work with such titans of cinema as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Alain Resnais, Mike Nichols, and Oliver Stone, Delerue, a native of Roubaix, France, created some of the most evocative film music of all time. Although he was trained in metallurgy, and began his working life in a metal factory, his lineage was musical (grandfather a choral singer, mother a pianist), and he found himself drawn in that direction, first studying the clarinet and eventually beginning to compose. After doing some scoring for television and short films (including Agnès Varda’s early short L’opéra mouffe, which is available on Criterion’s edition of Cléo from 5 to 7), Delerue was approached by Resnais and Truffaut to write the themes to Hiroshima mon amour and Shoot the Piano Player, two works at the forefront of the French New Wave movement. The scores for which he is now best known followed close on their heels: his energetic, lovely melody for Jules and Jim and his grand, swoony, undulating theme for Contempt—the latter appropriated years later by Martin Scorsese for his 1995 drama Casino. Delerue’s stature grew, thanks to scores for such films as The Two of Us and King of Hearts, and eventually he would not only win an Oscar (for 1979’s A Little Romance) and three Césars in a row (for Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, Love on the Run, and The Last Metro) but also be named a Commander of Arts and Letters, one of France’s highest cultural honors. He came to Hollywood in the eighties and wrote music for Platoon, Beaches, and Steel Magnolias, among others. Delerue died in 1992.