Any thought of heroes, at the moment, immediately conjures up all the usual suspects: "our brave men and women in the armed forces," policemen, firemen, aid workers. And if it's become a bit of a cliché to say so, it's still impossible not (in general) to admire them and to despair of ever being able to equal their determination, their courage, their willingness to sacrifice themselves for others.  Gradually, more particular figures come to mind: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mohatma Gandhi.  I could make quite a list given the time.  But one little corner of my mind retreats from those images and settles on one far less significant, or grand, a character in one of my favorite movies, Vivre Pour Vivre, a 1967 Claude Lelouch film starring Yves Montand, Candice Bergen, and Annie Giradot.         

The story is a familiar one.  Robert (Yves Montand) is chronically unfaithful to his wife, Catherine (Annie Giradot), who decides to surprise him at a conference he's attending, only to discover when she gets there that he already has company, his current lover, Candice (Candice Bergen).  On the train back to Paris, where they live, Robert tries to explain to Catherine what has happened to him.  They're in a compartment.  He's stretched out on the upper bunk, pouring his heart out; she's lying below him, listening.  As Robert launches into a recitation of Candice's irresistible qualities, the camera slowly moves in on him, stays there until he finishes speaking, and then pulls back to reveal – the empty bunk below.  Catherine's left the compartment.  The train.  Robert.  She loves the man; she really does; but she has her life to live.         

 How I wanted to be that woman: utterly feminine, sexy, intelligent, elegant, dignified, in control.  And if anything in the years ahead kept me from going too far, it was that memory of Catherine, and the empty bunk.         

 It being a movie and not real life, Robert eventually realizes what a mistake he's made and attempts to reconcile with Catherine.  I haven't seen the film in a long time, and I don't remember whether she takes him back or not.  I hope she does.  I like happy endings.