Fabulous dreamlike movie.
The drama of in-communicability as never before,and never after.A couple ,Montand and Aimée, feels that their love is becoming a thing of the past.He is a linguistics professor,he reigns over words and culture;she does not understand the language they speak in this part of Belgium. One night,both take a train;suddenly it stops.Anne (Aimée) has disappeared ,and Matthias (Montand) gets out of the train.With two unknown guys,he sees the train silently and slowly moving ,like in a dream.The dream has begun.
Matthias and his two mates are left alone in the country.They arrive in a small village where,that crowns it,the university professor cannot understand a single world of the inhabitants' language.A very strange scene shows the three men coming into a tiny movie theater.On the screen,an odd,almost worrying film is projected:a parachutist floating in the air,sometimes shot in close-up,with an almost unbearable soundtrack.The audience seems to live in another world.Not only Matthias does not understand the language,but he does not understand their entertainment either .Then they go to a restaurant ,the staff of which seems to wait for them.Maybe..
When he returns to reality,Matthias will find out how selfish he has been with Anne.But it's a movie you can interpret in accordance with your sensitivity.Never a director has gone so far in intertwining dream with reality.The incommunicability of Matthias and the strange people of his dream is a metaphor of that of the two lovers.But ,because of the harrowing conclusion,which leaves the audience totally hopeless,perhaps this dream was an escape,or a way to delay what was ineluctable.André Delvaux gave us the best European movie of 1968.

User comment from Imdb;
The theme of escape is very prevalent throughout all facets of this movie. The off-voice narration creates a sort of detachment that reflects the detachment of the character with reality and even with the feelings inside him. Seldom the characters speak while facing the camera and the music is a wonderful accompaniment to the narrative: fairy-like and enchanting or confusing and detached. As the inner feelings and reflections of the characters are the main subject of this movie, it is strongly narrative driven rather than driven by actions and therefor it might not suit every 21st century viewer. But I strongly urge people to allow themselves to follow the reflections and balance on the stream of consciousness of the characters and see where it takes them. Near the end different elements fall into place although it may be a place that not everyone likes or even understands. Strong visuals, strong music, strong acting, but not suitable for a day when you're on the couch struck by the flu.

Lieve is a Belgian woman who marries just as World War II is beginning. When the Germans invade, her husband goes off to fight them, but he swiftly returns home after the invasion succeeds. Later, he decides that the Germans are on the right side of things, and goes off to fight for them on the Eastern Front. Soon afterward, a resistance fighter is stranded on her doorway, and she hides him. The two of them fall in love, and the conflicts and joys of this relationship cause Lieve continued grief well after the end of the war.