Kaffeine Buzz
reviews independent and foreign films,
in addition to reporting the latest buzz behind
Colorado's film festivals.
Love Songs (Christophe Honore)
This will sound completely cheesy, but I am in
love with the film “Love Songs,” from
the musical jewels and cinematography of its main
character, Paris, to the incredibly stylistic
characters with all their flaws and incessant
smoking. You want to be there, being a voyeur
in person as the story unfolds.
The story in “Love Songs” is broken
into three pieces, or chapters; in a sense, a
three part play with a backdrop of the world its
characters live and die in. Adding to the texture
of the film are beautiful and hypnotic French
pop songs the likes of Autour de Lucie, with lyrics
that are just as exquisite as their notes.
Ismaël, played by the incredibly
sexy Louis Garrel, is the kind
of man women fall in love with and wish they hadn’t.
In an argument, even when anger is firing on all
pistons, his coy sense of humor will always get
him out of a bind. In a sense, he’s completely
infuriating. But his passion and boyish charm
makes it impossible to say no or stay mad.
Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), his
girlfriend, is dealing with this dilemma, and
as an attempt to change things up a bit, they
both invite Ismaël’s co-worker, Alice,
to join them in bed. But Alice's focus is mainly
on Julie’s charms and a no-intercourse regimen,
leaving Ismaël as a third wheel, which is
kind of funny.
This doesn’t seem to bring the result the
Julie was looking for, possibly because she’s
not quite sure what she wants, and her man has
an even lesser clue. But they hash things out
as best they can through song. If only we could
all argue with songs like "Je n'aime Que
Toi.”
Julie is very close to her family, who has taken
Ismaël in as their own, and during a family
dinner Julie’s mother (Brigitte Roüan)
overhears Julie telling her sister about the threesome
arrangement she’s been experiencing. In
true French fashion, her mother isn’t really
shocked when she talks to her daughter one-on-one,
but is more curious about the situation in a matter-of-fact
way, right down to the way it all happens in bed.
When things between the couple are finally beginning
to come back together, the unthinkable happens.
Julie dies suddenly as the end to the first act,
and we understand why it is called “Departure.”
It is at this time that the essence of the film’s
color palate comes to light; a wondrous array
of blue and silver hues, which meld with the water
element felt in the song's lyrics, the rain of
Paris, and the tears Julie’s death.
Going into “Absence,” the whole family
is reeling, and Ismaël is walking through
the days that follow, numb and in a haze. Julie’s
older sister, Jeanne (Chiara
Mastroianni), decides she wants them to “work
together” to deal with their grief by essentially
moving into the apartment the couple shared.
But her moves are denied by Ismaël, who
seeks refuge wherever else he can get it. As an
escape and a place to sleep, he bunks at the apartment
of a new man that Alice has taken up with, Gwendal
(Yannick Renier). In the process, Ismaël
meets Gwendal little brother, Erwann
(Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), who develops
a lust at first sight, puppy dog crush on Ismaël.
In the end Ismaël walks the line of allowing
himself to grieve the loss of his beloved while
also delving into distraction. Although music
plays a large part in this film, it is the city
that haunts Ismaël, not a song on the radio,
as he relives his moments with Julie.
The soundtrack Love Songs (Les Chansons
d'Amour) was written by Alex
Beaupain who also performs the song “Brooklyn
Bridge,” in the film. The album is available
on the French label, Naïve, and can be found
on Amazon.com, both in physical and MP3 download
format.
