The Meetings of Anna (1978)

In the heart-rending narrative of The Meetings of Anna, we follow the journey of Anna, a reserved and self-contained film director, who finds herself in Germany to showcase her latest masterpiece. As she settles into her hotel, she invites a stranger into her world of solitude, only to expel him abruptly. Fate intertwines their paths again when he invites her to a family birthday celebration—a lunch she mysteriously attends. Her journey continues to Cologne, where she reunites with an old acquaintance, a Polish Jew and a survivor of the war's horrors, whose resilience echoes in the backdrop of their conversation. As she moves forward, she finds herself in Brussels, sharing a rare night with her estranged mother in a hotel, an encounter filled with whispered confessions and unspoken emotions. Her journey is punctuated by the stories of strangers, their tales of life and loss seeping into her own narrative. A man on a train unravels his life story, his words etching themselves into the fabric of her journey. The final leg of her odyssey sees her back in Paris, where her lover Daniel awaits, whisking her away to a hotel, their love story unfolding amidst the bustle of the city. Throughout her journey, Anna is the silent recipient of intimate revelations, her impassive demeanor a contrast to the complex tapestry of human experiences she encounters. The specter of the war, although a distant memory, looms large over the narrative, its echoes reverberating through Anna's encounters, making The Meetings of Anna a deeply poignant exploration of life, war, and human connections.

The Meetings of Anna is a drama movie featuring Aurore Clément.

The Meetings of Anna is currently streaming on Criterion Channel.