Les Chansons D'Amour

The other night I was introduced to the broodingly sexy Louis Garrel by my most cosmopolitan friend.

Pwoargh.

Fair enough, the dress code may have been pyjamas rather than little gold dress, and the encounter through the blinking LCD laptop screen than in person, but his appearance at French film night has sparked yet another raging crush ( I’ll get over the fact he’s shacked up with Carla Bruni’s big sis and their African baby. Eventually). With liberal bowls of all things naughty and nice, accompanied by fragrant mugs of peppermint tea, the scene was set for Christophe Honoré's 2007 ode to Paris, Les Chansons D’Amour, an epic tale of loves and losses springing from an oh-so-French ménage a trois.

Not only are there a fair few frisky scenes as well as Garrel looking edible in midnight blue velvet, but the film makes like a more intense froggy version of Glee, with gorgeous Gallic wording taking the place of Hate on Me and a raw French sexuality that the candy-striped Americana of Schuster and co can’t touch.

A scene which struck a particular chord was, what else, but the close of the film, with Garrel swinging off a balcony with his little mate (watch the film) and luscious lyrics sprouting up all over the shop.

Don’t watch the clip if you don’t want to, but take heed that J’ai Cru Entendre (I thought I heard – thanks Leila Mate) features such divine lyrics as

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

(I am handsome, young and Breton

I smell of the rain, the ocean, and lemon pancakes)

…and

Aimes moi moins, mais aimes moi longtemps

(Love me less, but love me longer)

So many things sound better in French, don’t you think? A perennial example being déchets, which means rubbish in English. Apologies for any potential dire translations.

I hope that a) I haven’t ruined the film for you and that b) your tastebuds are sufficiently intrigued to potter to your nearest library/rental/casual French friend and get a hold of this delight. It’s worth it for the Garrel cheekbones alone.

© Miranda Thompson 2010
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