Les Chansons d`amour
I`m writing this description in English for just one simple reason - I noticed that my profile on the MacBook doesn`t have Latvian keyboard added and I`m currently too lazy to do any changes on the computer, so I decided to write in a language that is already supported. Anyway - how many people could be interested in a pseudo-review of a film like this? Not too many, I presume.
Actually we didn`t even plan to watch this film on Tuesday - everything was set for a different French film, however because of faulty subtitles I had to make another choice of film, and the decision was made in favor of "Love Songs". I really didn`t know much about this film - apart from two facts:
1) it is more or less a musical
2) in mininova it was placed in the category "gay interest" (although you got no mention of homosexual themes in either IMDb or Wikipedia)
So we watched it. Boy, was this a strange film. First, a bit about casting. The male lead role of Ismael is played by Louis Garrel whom you probably know as "the brother" from "Dreamers". His girlfriend Julie is played by Ludivine Sagnier known for her roles in several films by Francois Ozon. Then there is also Chiarra Mastroianni as Julie`s sister (she`s the daughter of Marcello Mastrioanni and Catherine Deneuve.
The story is rather odd for a musical - first, there is a threesome between Ismael, Julie and Alice - and it seems that Julie is the one who enjoys the strange relationship the most. Then - there is the death of one of the leading characters in the middle of the film (not a thing you encounter too often in musicals). Then there is indeed a homosexual theme that gets stronger as the film progresses. And then there are songs - mostly in the traditional French "chanson" style that you either like very much or hate it`s guts to death (I myself am not a rabid fan of chanson, however I see its charm). The film is shot in a strange manner, its storyline is strange, the way songs are included in the film is strange, and its message is strange. It all brought together makes "Love Songs" a pretty regular French film - with a lot of erotic themes (which aren`t very visual, by the way - nothing of the "in your face" attitude as seen in "Dreamers"), views of Paris and... that`s probably it.
To be honest, I can`t say that I enjoyed this film - and I`m not even sure I was meant to. It seemed a bit too slow and to drag too long, but maybe it was just the wrong mood for the film, I can`t say. It`s not necessarily bad but... I don`t really know what to think about it.
Actually we didn`t even plan to watch this film on Tuesday - everything was set for a different French film, however because of faulty subtitles I had to make another choice of film, and the decision was made in favor of "Love Songs". I really didn`t know much about this film - apart from two facts:
1) it is more or less a musical
2) in mininova it was placed in the category "gay interest" (although you got no mention of homosexual themes in either IMDb or Wikipedia)
So we watched it. Boy, was this a strange film. First, a bit about casting. The male lead role of Ismael is played by Louis Garrel whom you probably know as "the brother" from "Dreamers". His girlfriend Julie is played by Ludivine Sagnier known for her roles in several films by Francois Ozon. Then there is also Chiarra Mastroianni as Julie`s sister (she`s the daughter of Marcello Mastrioanni and Catherine Deneuve.
The story is rather odd for a musical - first, there is a threesome between Ismael, Julie and Alice - and it seems that Julie is the one who enjoys the strange relationship the most. Then - there is the death of one of the leading characters in the middle of the film (not a thing you encounter too often in musicals). Then there is indeed a homosexual theme that gets stronger as the film progresses. And then there are songs - mostly in the traditional French "chanson" style that you either like very much or hate it`s guts to death (I myself am not a rabid fan of chanson, however I see its charm). The film is shot in a strange manner, its storyline is strange, the way songs are included in the film is strange, and its message is strange. It all brought together makes "Love Songs" a pretty regular French film - with a lot of erotic themes (which aren`t very visual, by the way - nothing of the "in your face" attitude as seen in "Dreamers"), views of Paris and... that`s probably it.
To be honest, I can`t say that I enjoyed this film - and I`m not even sure I was meant to. It seemed a bit too slow and to drag too long, but maybe it was just the wrong mood for the film, I can`t say. It`s not necessarily bad but... I don`t really know what to think about it.
2009-03-31
comments powered by Disqus