Product Description

An unforgettable celebration of love, loss and new beginnings, 'Les Chansons d'Amour' is a joyful homage to the French New Wave and Jacques Demy's classic 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'. Louis Garrel plays Ismael, a young man at the centre of a ménage-a-trois with his long-time girlfriend Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) and his work colleague Alice (Clotilde Hesme). But Ismael is feeling restless and Julie confides in her sister (Chiara Mastroianni) that she is unhappy with the situation; shortly after, fate intervenes and profoundly changes the destinies of all concerned. Beautifully photographed on the streets of Paris and featuring songs by acclaimed musician Alex Beaupain brilliantly sung by the cast Christophe Honoré's beguiling film is a vibrant tale of longing and romance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6915 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-14
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Synopsis
Ismael finds himself at the centre of a manage-a-trois with his long-time girlfriend, Julie and a work colleague called Alice but it's not long before fate intervenes, turning in motion a set of profound changes that will ultimately affect all concerned.

Customer Reviews

BRILLIANT!!
I do not normally like musicals but 'Les Chansos d'Amour' is exceptional in that the story is very good, acting is superb and music is quite funky. I don't want to give anything away, so all I say is that the movie is emotionally challanging and probably more intersting to young people. In France this movie has a 'cult' status similar to 'Rebel without a cause'.

A perfectly made, bitter sweet French musical
An affecting and hypnotic musical from the talented French director Christophe Honoré. A lot of people compare it to "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," but I confess that I like this one better. Perhaps because the movie is more contemporary, and more daring in some respects (e.g. in its portrayl of "ménage à trois" and homosexual loves), yet the melancholy love story is tender and timeless. I love all the songs in the movie. They are soft, dreamy, sometimes quirky, sometimes sad, with beautiful lyrics. Although the actors are not professional singers, for my ears they sang wonderfully. And unlike in some French musicals, it feels very natural when the characters start singing in this movie. The movie is also beautifully shot, with many night or rainy scenes of Paris, not in the tourist-jammed parts, but in oridnary neighborhoods where Parisians actually live. I think the plot, the music and the cinematography all work very well together to make this a nearly perfect film that also appears to be a hommage to the French New Wave films.

Hey - this is really quite good!
It's no 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg' - but then even Les Demoiselles de Rochefort wasn't, but this is still really nice. I wasn't too sure about it at the beginning but it soon livens up.

Good fun!