Author Topic: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" (2007) by Christophe Honoré  (Read 43179 times)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Love Songs
(Les Chansons d'amour)
  Trailer
(2:31)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s54vpKAFmS0[/youtube]



http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/movies/19love.html?scp=1&sq=%22Love+Songs%22&st=nyt

From the New York Times:

Movie Review
Love Songs (2007)

From left, Clotilde Hesme, Ludivine Sagnier and Louis Garrel, a threesome in “Love Songs.”

Parisians Singing From Bed to Bed

By A. O. SCOTT
Published: March 19, 2008

The Paris of Christophe Honoré ’s “Love Songs” (“Les Chansons d’Amour”) belongs unmistakably to the present. Its residents talk on cellphones and drop the name of Nicolas Sarkozy (still an aspirant to the Élysée Palace rather than an occupant when the movie was being shot). But they also dwell, just as noticeably, in the Paris of classic French movies — in a vague, bracing atmosphere of good old Nouvelle Vague. The opening titles present the surnames of the actors in unadorned block capitals, à la mid-’60s Jean-Luc Godard, while the camera poetically prowls the streets of the city. And, among other sly quotations, an early shot of a couple reading in bed evokes a memorable, much-reproduced image from François Truffaut’s “Bed and Board.”

Except that, in this case, the couple is a threesome. Ismaël (the mischievous and soulful Louis Garrel ) and his live-in girlfriend, Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), have expanded their arrangement to include Ismaël’s co-worker Alice (Clotilde Hesme), an addition that fascinates Julie’s mother (Brigitte Roüan). But the girl-boy-girl threesome, which turns out to be short-lived, is perhaps the most straightforward emotional configuration in this odd, witty, touching film. Eventually, you see, Alice — who insists early on that her primary sexual interests are in women and celibacy — takes up with a young Breton man named Gwendal (Yannick Renier), whose younger brother, Erwann (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), develops a crush on Ismaël, who is also the object of nonsexual stalkerish attention from Julie’s older sister, Jeanne (Chiara Mastroianni).

And I haven’t even mentioned that, every now and again, one or more of these attractive, articulate, love-addled people bursts into song. What do they sing about? What do you think? About love, naturellement, and also — pourquoi pas? — about Paris. (A nightclub singer croons some verses about Manhattan, but who’s he kidding?)

The songs, written by Alex Beaupain, belong to a strain of contemplative, literate French pop that is, for music fans not from France, something of an acquired taste. The English subtitles may not help, as they sometimes turn Mr. Beaupain’s delicate erotic metaphors into lines like: “Keep your saliva as an antidote/Let it trickle like sweet venom down my throat.”

The melodies are charming, though. And so, for the most part, is “Love Songs,” even if it doesn’t entirely work. It takes some nerve nowadays to conceive a musical that is both realistic and earnest, frank in its emotions and cognizant of the complicated states of feeling encountered by frisky young city dwellers. There is nothing mocking or knowing in Mr. Honoré’s fusion of sexual comedy, intellectual seriousness and music, and he is not shy about throwing strong, even shocking moments of drama into the mix. Hovering over the generally good-humored sexual confusion is the specter of mortality, as the bed-hopping is interrupted, at the end of the film’s first act, by a sudden, senseless death.

But even though Mr. Honoré is trying something very interesting — and even though his nimble cast executes it with grace and more or less in tune — the execution doesn’t quite live up to the concept. No single element (apart from those song-lyric subtitles) is bad, exactly, but an element of coherence is missing. The musical numbers are restrained and not especially showy, but their tact makes them feel more rather than less self-conscious. The songs don’t sunder the naturalism that surrounds them, but they don’t quite enhance it either, and the result is a movie that feels, curiously, at once modest to the point of diffidence and feverishly overwrought.

Still, for all its imperfections, “Love Songs” is a worthy and intriguing experiment, the latest sortie in an international rescue operation aimed at saving musical cinema from extinction or self-parody. Like other movies that have been involved in this undertaking — “Once,” say, or “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” — Mr. Honoré’s film is likely to inspire ardent love among its admirers. The rest of us may envy their passion.
« Last Edit: August 08, 2018, 08:42:25 am by Aloysius J. Gleek »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2008, 03:05:32 am »
Love Songs (2007)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0996605/










Ma mémoire sale (4:32)
Louis Garrel (& Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, silent)
Love Songs: Les chansons d'amour
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX3GIhWNxbU[/youtube]



La distance (3:16)
Louis Garrel & Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
Love Songs: Les chansons d'amour
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6eP7VsqQnM&feature=related[/youtube]



As-tu-déjà aimé? (2:54)
Louis Garrel & Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
Love Songs: Les Chansons d'amour
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkZnH82_7v0[/youtube]




Louis Garrel with Ludivine Sagnier, left, and Clotilde Hesme in “Love Songs.”




Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet and Louis Garrel in “Love Songs.”




Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet in “Love Songs.”
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2008, 12:03:38 pm »
http://www.list.co.uk/article/5858-les-chansons-damour-profile-of-christophe-honore/

Les Chansons d’Amour - profile of Christophe Honoré

Source: The List (Issue 592) Date: 13 December 2007 Written by: Tom Dawson



PROFILE
Name Christophe Honoré
Born 10 April 1970, Cahaix, France.
 
Background Having grown up in Brittany, Honoré studied literature and cinema at Rennes university, before moving to Paris in his mid-20s, where he contributed to Cahiers du Cinema. A novelist, playwright, screenwriter and author of children’s books, Honoré has already directed several films: these include his sexually transgressive George Bataille adaptation Ma Mere, for which he cast Isabelle Huppert and Louis Garrel, and the critically acclaimed Dans Paris, a playful hommage to the Nouvelle Vague, which starred Garrel again and Romain Duris.
 
What’s he up to now? Honoré’s latest film is Les Chansons d’Amour (Love Songs), which played in competition at last May’s Cannes festival, and is now gaining its British release. Featuring an exciting young cast including Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni and Clotilde Hesme, it’s a naturalistic musical containing 13 songs, which unfolds in Paris’s bustling tenth arrondissement and explores how lovers and family members deal with an unexpected bereavement.
 
What he says about the inspiration for Les Chansons d’Amour ‘It was inspired by the death of somebody whom I loved as a friend and whom the composer Alex Beaupain loved as well. When that person passed away, Alex wrote some songs, and I referred to the feelings of grief in my novels. But we came together with the idea of transforming this grief into the joy of making a movie.’
 
What he says about Jacques Demy ‘I love the work of Jacques Demy, to me he is a godfather of French cinema. You can’t make a French musical without acknowledging Demy, but I didn’t want to make a copy of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. In my film love is threatened not by war, but by everyday tragedy.’
 
Interesting Fact Honoré lost his own father when he was 15 years old.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2008, 04:36:42 am by jmmgallagher »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2008, 04:26:47 am »
From
Les chansons d'amour:
J'ai cru entendre

by Alex Beaupain and Doc Matéo

Listen:
http://moulou.imeem.com/music/ord5zAqt/grgoire_leprinceringuet_jai_cru_entendre/
(2:54)


Ismaël
(Louis Garrel):

Mon petit depuis ce matin
J'ai traîné comme un crétin
Au niveau du caniveau
De Montparnasse à Château d'Eau

J'ai bu des verres, des verres, et puis des verres
Zubrowska, Riesling, Piper
À court de tout à bout de moi
Je suis revenu chez toi

Moi je voulais juste un corps
Je cherchais seulement des bras
Un lit de réconfort
Des délices sous les draps
Mais hélas au lieu de ça

J'ai cru entendre "Je t'aime--"
J'ai pensé c'est son problème
J'ai cru entendre je t'aime
J'ai pensé c'est son problème

Peu importe que tu y croies
Peu importe que je sois
À bout de moi, à court de tout
Mais pas de ça entre nous




Erwann
(Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet):

Être un corps je suis d'accord
T'offrir mes bras pourquoi pas

Mon lit, ok, encore
Pour rire en salir les draps
Mais je crains que pour tout ça

Tu doives entendre "Je t'aime--"
Tu doives entendre "Je t'aime!"


Ismaël:
je suis vieux, veuf et sectaire
Un pauvre imbécile secrétaire


Erwann:
Je suis beau, jeune et breton
Je sens la pluie, l'océan et les crêpes au citron


Ismaël:
Tais-toi un peu petit trésor


Erwann:
Tu as tout faux une fois encore
J'suis très précieux, épargne moi


Ismaël:
D'accord, mais--entre nous pas de ça


Erwann:
Être un corps je suis d'accord


Ismaël:
Je cherchais seulement des bras


Erwann:
Mon lit, ok, encore


Ismaël:
Des délices sous les draps


Erwann:
Mais je crains que pour tout ça
Tu doives entendre...


Ismaël:
(Je t'aime!)




"You need to hear 'I love you!'"

 ;)
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2008, 05:38:39 am »
From
Les chansons d'amour:
Au parc

by Alex Beaupain


Listen:
http://profile.imeem.com/xkvPbUO/music/IDlPhAPl/chiara_mastroianni_au_parc/
(2:16)



Jeanne
(Chiara Mastroianni):

Même soleil d'hiver
Mêmes bruits de brindilles
Le bout des doigts glacé
Le givre sur les grilles
Mêmes odeurs d'humus
La terre qui se terre

Tout y sera, tout y sera
À part toi

Parc de la Pépinière, fin de semaine,
Encore une heure, encore une heure à peine,
Encore une heure de jour et la nuit vient

Même température,
Le mercure à zéro
Même mélancolie fauve
Au portillon du zoo
Mêmes parents pressés,
Leurs enfants en manteaux

Tout y sera, tout y sera
À part toi

Parc de la Pépinière, fin de semaine,
Encore une heure, encore une heure à peine,
Encore une heure de jour et la nuit vient

J'aurais beau décalquer
Refaire les mêmes parcours
Reprendre les mêmes allées
Au mêmes heures du jours
J'aurais beau être la même
J'aurais beau être belle

Tout y sera, tout y sera
À part toi

Parc de la Pépinière, fin de semaine,
Encore une heure, encore une heure à peine,
Encore une heure de jour et la nuit vient
Et puis... rien.


:(
« Last Edit: March 31, 2008, 10:49:50 am by jmmgallagher »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline oilgun

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2008, 04:11:19 pm »
jmmgallagher can we be BFF!!   ;D
I just discovered this thread and I'm thrilled with all the stuff you posted, thanks!

I am so looking forward to seeing LOVE SONGS , I can taste it!!  Just yesterday,  I was about to pre-order the DVD from Amazon, it apparently comes out in June, but thought I should wait a while yet.  Louis Garrel is one of my favourite French actors and I absolutely love THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG which I understand was an influence.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2008, 03:37:51 pm »
Oilgun,

I'm so glad you liked the posts--you will love the film; as you may have guessed, Les Chansons d'amour is one of my new obsessions. I have lots to say on the subject, the actors, the director, the composer, the whole story, too much, so--

Anyway, I'll be adding more to the thread when I can, and--see the movie as soon as possible!!

John

 ;D
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2008, 03:38:54 pm »
From
Les chansons d'amour:
Les yeux au ciel

by Alex Beaupain

Listen:
http://moulou.imeem.com/music/uXCcvK1B/louis_garrel_les_yeux_au_ciel/
(3:49)


Ismaël
(Louis Garrel):

Les yeux
Au ciel
Les nuages blancs dans le bleu parfait
Nulle trace de dieu
Au ciel
Ces nuages lents dans le bleu défait
Le soleil inonde
Le ciel
Mes jours en hiver passés à t'oublier
Où chaque seconde
Est une poignée de terre
Où chaque minute
Est un sanglot
Vois comme je lutte
Vois ce que je perds
En sang et en eau
En sang et en eau

Je jette
Au ciel
Ces galets polis que tu peignais en vert
Mais nulle reponse
Du ciel
Nul ricochet sur cette mer a l'envers
Le soleil inonde
Le ciel
Mes jours en enfer passés a t'enterrer
Où chaque seconde
Est une poignée de terre
Où chaque minute
Est un caveau
Vois comme je lutte
Vois ce que je perds
En sang et en eau
En sang et en eau

J'éspère
Qu'au ciel
Des diables malins coupent au anges leurs ailes
Pour que tu retombes
Du ciel
Dans mes bras ouverts, cadeau providenciel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mais chaque seconde
Est une poignée de terre
Mais chaque seconde
Est une poignée de terre
Mais chaque minute
Est un tombeau
Vois comme je lutte
Vois ce que je perds
En sang et en eau
En sang et en eau




"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2008, 03:55:39 pm »
Love Songs
(Les Chansons d'amour)
   Trailer
(2:31)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s54vpKAFmS0[/youtube]

"Christophe Honoré makes a case as one of the most exciting filmmakers of our generation with the exuberant and tender Love Songs (Les Chansons D'Amour). A modern day musical told through unforgettable songs sung entirely by the cast and scored by Alex Beaupain, the film has overjoyed audiences at the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals while earning recognition in its native country with four French César nominations.

"In the hope of sparking their stalled relatioinship, Ismaël (Louis Garrel of Dans Paris, The Dreamers) and Julie (Ludivine Sagnier of Swimming Pool) enter a playful yet emotionally laced threesome with Alice (Clotilde Hesme of Regular Lovers). When tragedy strikes, these young Parisians are forced to deal with the fragility of life and love. For Ismael, this means negotiating through the advances of Julie's sister (Chiara Mastroianni of Persepolis) and a young college student (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet of Strayed); one of which may offer him redemption."



« Last Edit: April 02, 2008, 12:15:45 am by jmmgallagher »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Love Songs: "Les chansons d'amour" by Christophe Honoré
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2008, 06:37:29 pm »
From
Les Chansons d'amour:
Il faut se taire

by Alex Beaupain

Listen:
http://lebaisermodiano.imeem.com/music/3EfifbEq/alex_beaupain_il_faut_se_taire_louis_garrel_clotilde_hesm/
(2:33)


Ismaël (Louis Garrel) and Alice (Clotilde Hesme)


Ismaël
(Louis Garrel):

Se taire
Tu m'en as tant dit, plus rien ne m'etonne
Se faire
Des serments muets, des promesses aphones

Les mots
De trop
Il faut

Se taire
Nos langues se fatiguent, menageons les pour


Alice
(Clotilde Hesme):

Se faire
Langue contre langue un dialogue de sourds


Ismaël :
Parfois
Crois-moi
On doit

Se taire


Alice:
Gardes ta salive que je puisse enfin
La faire
Couler dans ma gorge comme un doux venin



Ismaël
Les mots


Ismaël and
Alice:
De trop
Il faut

Se taire


Alice:
Nos levres sont seches et nos bouches ont mieux
À faire
Que se prendre au mot que se prendre au jeu


Ismaël :
Parfois
Crois-moi
On doit

Se taire
Enfin


Alice:
Se taire
À la fin


« Last Edit: March 31, 2008, 10:57:58 am by jmmgallagher »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"