Love Songs-DVD
Added 3/8/2009
Great movie/musical-only the French can get away with a storyline like this!
I bought the CD too, and am very happy with it.
All the actors have amazing voices and the music is catchy and tres' bien!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Musical Paris
Added 2/4/2009
"Love Songs"
Musical Paris
Amos Lassen
"Love Songs" is not your typical movie musical and is in no way traditional. It is a blend of a classical quartet with acoustic guitar and the singing is integral to the story.
Ismael (Louis Garrel) lives with his girlfriend Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) and they share their bed with Alice (Clotilde Hesme) who works with Ismael. The three walk the streets of Paris and they party and sleep together. There are occasional jealousies but by and large the three are fine together. When death suddenly strikes those who are left have to come to terms with losing someone they love and we see new relationships being formed and the youth men and women are there for each other and as their spirits return, they find that new commitments are possible.
The film is homage to love, life, death, youth, friendship, music and of course Paris. The film takes us into its arms and gives us a musical that is French to its core and it is all expressed in song. At first I felt like this was going to be a piece of fluff but it soon became charming. Replete with thirteen songs, the movie looks at sexuality which is porous and it is a story of romance cut short by tragedy and then it shows how it is possible to again find love.
The songs give us the pure and genuine emotions which are difficult to achieve by spoken word. The lyrics flow from the actors in realistic ways. This is more than a movie, it is an experience.
6 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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French Musical Drama
Added 1/4/2009
This has to be one of the more ill conceived ideas in film history. A dramatic musical? No, sorry this one just flat out doesn't work. In Paris (Dans Paris), similar flavor, similar cast, but without the music - that works.
The positives - the music is pretty, the songs do move the story line along, and the singing / instruments are all well done. The film is set in real live Paris - near the Bastille. Work a day Paris, not the tourist Paris. The French is beautiful. And the actors have a certain allure.
The negatives - this unreasonable shuffling of partners and mixing it all up, female/female/male, female/female, male/male... and all without passion. In the opening threesome, they all read books. Zero excitement here. The songs, just way too many of them. Nothing really happens in this story.
Here is the whole film: a man and two women live together. There's a party at Julie's parent's house. The three go to a concert. Julie has a heart attack and dies. Everyone grieves. The lead man sleeps with a younger man. There's a bunch of jealousy all around. And the film almost ends with him visiting Julie's grave and seeing visions of her, she sort of releases him. He goes to the younger man's apartment and makes out with him on the balcony, the end. I haven't spoiled this film for anyone reading this synopsis.
There are no special features on the DVD, just trailers. In French with well done English subtitles.
It is an R rated movie. Not for nudity, there is absolutely none. Not for language, there is no foul language. Not for violence. It's the subject matter and suggested things under the covers that yielded the R rating, the MPAA at their best. I find it hard to believe that anyone under 16 would be remotely interested in this film. For that matter, anyone older than 16.
Just cannot recommend this film experiment.
2 out of 13 people found this helpful.
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A Classic in its genre
Added 12/23/2008
Even if the French/English translation is not 100% acurate - even if the poetry has been lost in translation - this movie is a real Classico/modern sex tale of 2008.
A love triangle - sadness and love are the main theme of the movie
Great Paris shots - color and black and white - the streets - cafes - cigarettes .............. you are transported in Paris by nights most of the time.
It is the photography and musicality that makes this movie a piece of art - sometimes compared to the "parapluies de cherbourg" because of the songs styles - but for the rest we are in 2008 and deep in it.
This is VERY french, with a real style that is unique and will probably be a Classic in its genre.
If you want a trip to Paris with love stories - this is the one to get
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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A charming confection of a film
Added 12/12/2008
This is perhaps Honore's most accessible film to date, even though it is a polyamorous musical. Louis Garrel continues to impress and the smaller roles of Sagnier and Hesme are given ample room to shine as well. The music is beautiful, particularly the song about the Bastille, sung by Sagnier's character and her family in an opening scene. The even smaller roles of the family members are exquisite. I particularly felt for Mastroianni's character (spelling?)... please watch this film if you are a fan of french cinema, and want to escape reality for some bittersweet Parisian confection.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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The tragic aftermath of a love triangle set against the backdrop of the Holocaust
Added 4/2/2009
'A Secret' is a multi-layered movie that deals with myriad themes. The central character is Francois Grimbert who has always had a rather distant relationship with his father Maxime [Patrick Bruel]. As a young boy, Francois is not keen on sports and appears rather frail [he was a four lb baby] and very unlike his athletic father and swim champion mother Tania [Cecile de france]. His young mind conjures a phantom brother that is very athletic and strong, driving his parents to distraction. When Francois discovers a toy in the family attic, secrets long hidden begin to unravel, thanks mostly to a long-time family friend, Louise [Julie Depardieu] who reveals all that she knows.
Told via a series of flashbacks, the story unfolds. Ironically, the flashbacks to the past are portrayed in color, and the present [where the now mature Francois goes to meet his old dad] is in black and white. This is ideal as in this story, the past is of the most significance. As the 15-year-old Francois learns, his 'imaginary' brother of childhood was very much real, and was called Simon, much beloved by his father Maxime, and his mother Hannah [Maxime's first wife]. As the story progresses, we learn of a complex love triangle, involving Maxime, Hannah, and Tania. Maxime first sets eyes on the gorgeous, blonde Tania at his wedding to Hannah. At the time, Tania is married to Hannah's brother, but when the Nazis begin expanding their power across Europe, Tania's husband becomes a prisoner of war and this brings Tania closer to Maxime and his family, which now includes the young Simon. As the Nazis occupy France, Maxime refuses to wear the yellow star, turning his back on his Jewish identity, much to the chagrin of Hannah, who is proud of her heritage. Hannah also slowly realizes to her horror that Maxime desires Tania, and this realization later plays a tragic role in shaping the ultimate destiny of Hannah and Simon.
The plot here may come across as incredibly convoluted, yet despite the many layerings to the story, conveyed by the frequent flashbacks, the plot flows well, almost seamless, and I could easily follow the stories of the main characters.
This is a riveting human drama that not only portrays the complexities of love and relationships, but also shows how the French Jews, as portrayed by Maxime, his family and close friends were affected by the Nazi occupation of France, and how the French government basically turned its back on its Jewish citizens. Final verdict: a well-made Holocaust-themed human drama.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A Frail, Imaginative Boy Finds Discovers Himself in a Sad Family Secret.
Added 3/20/2009
"A Secret" (Un Secret) is a World War II drama based on the novel of the same name by Phillipe Grimbert, which has also been published under the title "Memory". It has a complex time structure, shifting between 4 different time periods in the life of Francois Grimbert and the earlier lives of his parents during the War. Seven-year-old Francois (Valentin Vigourt) is frail, reclusive boy living in the shadow of his athletic father Maxime (Patrick Bruel) and beautiful mother Tania (Cecile De France) in 1955 Paris. He finds a stuffed animal in the attic one day that elicits strong and inexplicable reactions from his parents. Seven years later, his neighbor and longtime family friend Louise (Julie Depardieu) tells him the long-suppressed story of his parents' past that puts his life in a new context.
A lot of films have been made about the struggles of French Jews during World War II. Every time I see one, I think it's going to be like all the others. But I'm usually wrong. For some reason, this subject has produced great cinema in France. There is always a restraint in how these stories are told, and the characters are strong enough to engage the audience's interest, yet ordinary enough to represent whole communities. "A Secret" is no exception. Maxime, Tania, Louise, and, later, Hannah (Ludivine Sagnier) are vibrant, sympathetic people no matter what they do. Sometimes I wondered if the complex structure of this film was necessary or beneficial (it was borrowed from the book). And I would liked to have known more about Francois as an adult. But these characters are captivating and their story is affecting.
The DVD (Strand Releasing 2009): The film is in French with English subtitles that cannot be turned off. The only bonus feature is a theatrical trailer.
3 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Longing and Loving and the Precipice of War
Added 3/13/2009
Claude Miller has created one of the more challenging and intensely human dramas about World War II in his film UN SECRET (A SECRET). Though one of many stories about the plight of Jews during the events that led up to and exploded into WW II, Miller's story is less about the cruel destiny of the Jews in Hitler's plundering of Europe than it is a study of a few individuals who struggled with their identity in the face of probable extermination.
Based on a true story in Phillippe Grimbert's novel by the same name, UN SECRET gracefully and artistically draws the viewer into the psyche of the narrator François Grimbert (played at ages 7, 14 and 37 by Valentin Vigourt, Quentin Dubuis, and Matthew Almaric) whose relationship to his father Maxime (Patrick Bruel) has always been strained. The story winds from contemporary time, to the period in France before WW II, through the horrors of the Holocaust, and the years of rebuilding following the war.
Maxime `Grinberg' (Patrick Bruel) marries Hannah (Ludvine Sagnier) in a beautiful Jewish wedding. Hannah's brother is married to a brilliant athlete Tania (Cecile De France) and even at the wedding the equally athletic Maxime has eyes for Tania. All possible conflicts seem to diminish when Maxime and Hannah have a son, Simon (Orlando Nicoletti) who develops into a naturally gifted athlete - the joy of Maxime's life. As WW II approaches the Jews of Paris are instructed to wear their yellow Star of David patches, and while Hannah feels pride in her ancestry, Maxime refuses to be `labeled' and defies the ruling. When the SS come to transport Jews out of Paris, Hannah and Simon are removed to a camp while Maxime manages to stay in Paris with a new French name. Popular as a fashion model and designer, Tania is able to stay unnoticed as a Jew also, but her husband is off to war and extermination. Maxime and Tania learn of their families' demise and bond, eventually marrying using French names (Grimberg becomes Grimbert), join the Catholic Church and have a son - François - who is nothing like Simon nor does he know of his father's rejection of him as a poor comparison to the perfect Simon But as the years pass François discovers his family's past and a reconciliation with his Jewish heritage confronts him. How the maturing François ultimately relates to his distant father brings closure to the story.
The cast is excellent, gifted actors all, especially in some of the lesser roles (eg. the ever-present Louise (Julie Depardieu). Claude Miller's recreation of time lapses is successfully highlighted by interchanging black and white with color photography (by cinematographer Gérard de Battista) and the changing moods of the story are greatly enhanced by the musical score by Zibigniew Preisner. UN SECRET, then, is a stunning work that explains many aspects of the varying responses of Jews to that horrid period of history designed by Hitler. It is a deeply satisfying and profoundly moving film. In French with English subtitles. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, March 09
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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