Where “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” had long in our hearts become an iconic classic, “Love Songs” by the acclaimed director Christophe Honore is a modern take on romance and a play on the fluidity of desire and sexual expression entangled with strong emotions and difficulties in communicating them. Despite Christophe Honore’s fame for often shockingly and aggressively sexual scenes in “Ma Mere” or turns to darker side of human psyche in “The Beautiful Person,” this film offers the viewer a fresh perspective on Honore’s work.
“Love Songs,” although still sensually edgy, is tender, sad and full of pure romantic magic. Its operetta quality of combining spoken dialogues with singing scenes keeps the viewer guessing and the music and songs by Alex Beaupain are a treat in itself! Three French films in a row for me…four including my recent trip to the movie theater for Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris”…so many beautiful vistas of Parisian Streets that I am on a verge of booking a trip to the city of romance any second now! But I will not let any more details out. Enjoy the movie if not for anything then for the divine cast of Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni and Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet! Honore favors this cast given that every one of these actors has been featured in “The Beautiful Person” as well.
Here is the song that truly touched me:
TRANSLATION:
The same winter sun
The same snapping twigs
Icy fingertips
Frost on the railings
The same smell of soil
Of earth gone to earth
It’ll all be there
Except for you
The Pepiniere Park at the week’s end
One more hour, one more hour if that
One more hour before nightfall
The same temperature
Down to freezing point
Melancholy beasts
At the gates of the zoo
The same hurried parents,
Their children wrapped up warm
It’ll all be there
It’ll all be there
Except for you
The Pepiniere Park at the week’s end
One more hour, one more hour if that
One more hour before nightfall
Even if I stay
And walk where we walked
Follow the same paths
At the same time of day
Even if I’m the same
Even if I’m beautiful
It’ll all be there
It’ll all be there
Except for you
The Pepiniere Park at the week’s end
One more hour, one more hour if that
One more hour before nightfall
Night will fall
And then
Nothing
The trailer does not do this movie justice, reducing it to stereotypical play on French erotic liberation whereas "Love Songs" is much deeper, touching on the universal themes of love, loss and human kindness:
No comments:
Post a Comment