And Now My Love (1974) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The two families are linked through historical trauma: David Goldman is the son of the Lumière camera operator from pre-WWI France who was killed in war, while Rachel Stern is the daughter of the chorus girl the general married and murdered. As Jewish survivors of concentration camps, they meet and share their family histories through photographs, which leads to their marriage and the birth of their daughter Sarah.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene establishes the Lumière operator and the general's medal storyline, which later connects to both family lines.

• family connection
• david goldman
• rachel stern
• genealogy
• ancestry

On her sixteenth birthday, Sarah loses her virginity to famous French pop star Gilbert Bécaud, who then rejects her afterward. This devastating rejection shatters her sense of self-worth and triggers her suicide attempt, highlighting the film's exploration of how early heartbreak can have profound psychological consequences.

Foreshadowing: The pop star encounter is framed as a pivotal, life-altering moment rather than a minor teenage experience.

• suicide attempt
• gilbert bécaud
• heartbreak
• rejection
• emotional trauma

After Sarah's suicide attempt, her father David organizes a world tour to help her recover. The trip is deliberately designed to revisit the vacations he once shared with Rachel (Sarah's mother), anchoring Sarah to family memories and hope rather than her recent heartbreak. The journey is intended to broaden her perspective and reconnect her with her family's history.

Foreshadowing: The trip is framed as a healing journey that connects Sarah to her mother's memory.

• world trip
• david goldman
• healing
• family memory
• recovery

Simon and his partner move their photography and film business into an office building that also houses David's footwear company. This shared physical space intertwines their destinies, though the characters themselves don't directly meet until the film's final moments on the transatlantic plane.

Foreshadowing: The timeline notes that their offices sit in the same building, binding their fates through shared spaces.

• simon ducroc
• office building
• footwear business
• parallel stories
• intersection

The general who awards the posthumous medals to the Lumière operator's family later marries a chorus girl. When he discovers her infidelity, he murders her in a violent rage. The medals originally meant to honor the fallen soldier thus become entangled with this darker family history, eventually connecting to Rachel Stern (the general's murdered wife's daughter) and her descendants.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene establishes the medals as a symbol that will ripple through generations.

• general
• medals
• murder
• family legacy
• historical events

Sarah's mother Rachel dies in childbirth while giving birth to Sarah. This tragic loss establishes Sarah's complicated relationship with motherhood and legacy throughout the film, as she grows up bearing a striking resemblance to her mother whom she never knew.

Foreshadowing: The shift to color when Sarah is born underscores this as a transformative moment.

• rachel stern
• childbirth death
• mother loss
• family tragedy
• legacy

Sarah's relationships consistently fail because she seeks deeper meaning beyond what her partners can offer. She tries to conceive with a stranger, marries an Italian man for only a week, and cannot reconcile with a union activist despite genuine connection. Her emotional wounds from the pop star rejection and her unresolved grief over her mother create barriers to lasting intimacy.

Foreshadowing: The pattern of failed connections reflects Sarah's lifelong struggle with attachment and identity.

• failed relationships
• italian marriage
• union activist
• emotional barriers
• loneliness

After David's death leaves Sarah extraordinarily wealthy, she attempts to improve workers' conditions with generous offers. However, the staff's distrust of her sudden generosity leads to a strike. When she dates the leading union activist, they cannot reconcile his ideological beliefs about wealth with her position as owner, revealing the class divide that prevents genuine connection.

Foreshadowing: The tension between Sarah's wealth and her desire for authentic relationships foreshadows this conflict.

• strike
• workers
• labor dispute
• class divide
• wealth
• union

The film concludes with both Sarah and Simon separately traveling on the same transatlantic plane to New York. In a quiet moment of recognition, they agree to meet again in New York, leaving the possibility of connection open. This ending represents hope for reconciliation after lifetimes of parallel suffering and missed opportunities.

Foreshadowing: The earlier note about Sarah funding Israel-related efforts and Simon seeking inspiration in New York sets up this convergence.

• plane ending
• new york
• reunion
• hope
• final scene
• conclusion

The film shifts from black and white to vivid color precisely when Sarah is born, symbolizing her role as the bridge between past trauma and future hope. The birth represents a new chapter for the family line, David emerges as a successful businessman, and Sarah herself becomes the living embodiment of resilience despite the loss of her mother.

Foreshadowing: The color shift marks Sarah's arrival as the pivotal figure connecting multiple generations.

• color change
• visual symbolism
• birth
• transformation
• black and white