User Reviews

Reminiscent of Jacques Demy's 1968 "The Young Girls of Rochefort" where characters now and then burst into song (and dance) to convey the story, and Eric Rohmer's flavor of intertwined relationships and coincidental meetings of characters that wrap around a tale, Alain Resnais' treatment here in 1997 "Same Old Song" has his characters burst into lines of songs in between dialogs. Irrespective of the mix and match of a male vocal coming out of a female character or vice versa, they are excerpted strains and words chosen from certain songs that propel the storytelling. It's as if the characters are thinking aloud in songs on the situation or predicament at hand. It is rather fun once you get a sense of what Resnais was trying to deliver. Being an Alain Resnais film, intellectual exchanges and philosophical tones are never lacking.

Definitely reminded me of his treatment on 1980 "Mon oncle d'Amerique" where he has scientific mice experiment scenes juxtaposed against the human (brain) reactions to relationships and love. In this 1997 "On connait la chanson", his fascination with how people think - how the brain cells work in each of the characters, is again deftly demonstrated. At the last segment, where a theoretical explosion of the minds occur as gray matters collide - there was an appearance of a graphical ear-shape (in quiet wavy motion) in the center of it all - it's amazing to see how Resnais' mind at 75 was still so very much into studying and unraveling human emotions, offering us life lessons in love.

The story centers around two sisters, Camille the tour guide who's also writing a thesis (Agnes Jaoui) and her popular and successful sibling Odile (Sobine Azema), and four men in their lives: an old flame of Odile - Nicolas (Jean-Pierre Bacri), husband of Odile - Claude (Pierre Arditi), writer of radio plays and quiet admirer of Camille - Simon (Andre Dussollier, more casually groomed than usual), and profiteering real-estate agent of Odile, fanciful beau of Camille and arrogant boss of Simon - Marc (Lambert Wilson).

Typographically oriented, I can't help noticing the sequence of treatment to the credit roll at the end of the film: it started with a centrifugal look of the names of les chanteurs, followed by horizontal scroll from right to left of the main cast and crew, then a quick shooting upwards to facilitate the conventional bottom to top scroll of rest of the credits.

It may not be a French film for just anybody, it certainly is delightful to experience. (An Artistic License and Merchant-Ivory Films production indeed!) The subtitles, translated by Ian Burley, were super: the lyrics actually rhyme in English, e.g., "resist", "exist", "egotist"!

This film was dedicated to Dennis Potter, a cerebral genius he was. Check out his 1996 "Karaoke" (a multitude of colorfully complex characters) and "Cold Lazarus" (quite a sci-fi notion not completely implausible) - both centers around Albert Finney being the main character, and as always, a tour de force performance Finney delivered.

This film is light, but not empty. Following the interconnected lives of several Parisian bourgeois, the film uses snippets of popular music to demonstrate the emotional state of the characters in the style of a conventional musical. However, the music does both more than this and less. The characters do not sing their parts so much as lip-sync (badly) to tunes that one hears on the radio or in a movie. The songs are related to the characters' "inner lives" as a Nike swoosh or a Dior label would be - and that's the point. Each character has a musical style of sorts and maybe even a theme song, but the song "belongs" to the character like motion "belongs" to a jelly-fish. The characters, like the jelly-fish that are a motif of the finale scene, are less than unique, and much less than in control. However, they are at the same time quite human and sympathetic.

Resnais, whom I count as being one of cinema's great geniuses, has a similar approach in On connaît la chanson as he does in Mon oncle d'Amérique, with pop songs in lieu of mice and jelly-fish in lieu of Henri Laborit. (See the info on the latter movie if this doesn't make sense...) What both films do is make one think about important questions of the complex relationship between brains, minds, and souls, and they do so without clobbering the viewer over the head with preachiness and over-simplifications. Contrast this with the sermonizing of the abominable Lars von Trier (of Dancer in the Dark fame) as well as with the mindless drek that that is generally shown in U.S. theaters.

Alain Resnais was at the age of 76 when he made his first musical, and to be honest he might just be the last filmmaker I would've guessed to make a musical - even that music has always played a huge part in his films. Alain Resnais was one of the most essential auteurs of the French new wave in early 1960's, during which he got a reputation as an experimental filmmaker by making Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961) - who would've thought that a man who made these tragic, ambiguous films was going to make a musical? To my mind, through Same Old Song (1997) Resnais achieved the same Hitchcock did; combining experimentalism and populism - the film was drowned by Cesar awards.

In my opinion Same Old Song is the best musical made after the 1960's. Just like western and film-noir so has this genre died. But luckily someone was still able to bring something new to it. Same Old Song is and is not a musical. In the genre wishful thinking, better and dreamed ego, hopes for a better world and existence are combined. From this perspective Same Old Song is a musical but this idyllic joy is destroyed by showing the actual agony and depression that possess the characters. In the film the characters sing in appropriate and inappropriate situations; the music comes from a tape and it doesn't necessarily fit into the mouth of the singer. A young lady can sing throaty and loudly, and a German officer can burst out to a falsetto.

In the beginning there is a Resnaisian leap of time: 50 years, from WWII to the lives of the regardless and ignorant bourgeoisie of today. The reality is very elusive, nothing and no one is what they first seem to be: the inappropriate songs. The characters aren't living in harmony with each other nor with themselves, what the idyllic songs seem to reinforce - it's all a lie, fake, window dressing.

The characters sing classics by Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg and Charles Trenet - same old songs. "No one in our world can sing songs throughly anymore." (Alain Resnais) So all the songs are association; we only here brief fragments from them and this idea works brilliantly. The songs/ideas remain undone and the characters don't empathize. An old Avantgardist goes deeper into the core of art, not by adding but by erasing and simplifying.

Same Old Song could be seen as a parody or a travesty of musicals as the artificial joy wins. But it also has a social dimension; depicting the illusion of bourgeois happiness. The ostensible joy of the same old songs hides the depression, tiredness and panic disorders: "How long does depression last?, - 'Mine has lasted for four years.'" The things of everyday life, falling in love, decent life bury the actual fears of reality. The characters eat a lot and go to cocktail-parties, they don't really know who they are. The postmodern architecture represents the rootlessness of the characters and the vacancy of their lives - Alain Resnais continued from here in his later film Coeurs (2006), which is the best romantic comedy made in decades.

An obscure agony characterizes the city the characters live in. The singing society and artificial happiness are like a horror-utopia - to which not even some of the finest science fictions can't be compared to. Some of the characters realize their agony, share it and move on. But the others continue their artificial idyllic life - singing with no worries.

"On connait la chanson" is a great French movie. Not often the culture and lifestyle of a country is shown so happily, modern and still entertainingly in a film. The plot is not "straight", it's rather a patchwork of single stories, that are connected with each other. The French chanson, the title says it, plays a central role. It is this kind of music, though sometimes pretty close to kitsch, that is so typical for France. Instead of expressing their feelings only in words, the protagonists sing lines from well-known chansons, all the way from Maurice Chevalier to Serge Gainsbourgh.

Fortunately, there is no dubbed version of this film, the subtitles do very well. So if you want to know something about France and especially Paris today, go and watch it. Also people who normally don't like foreign films will have a lot of fun with it.

The sing-along idea is clever and well-implemented, but the story goes around in circles and above all the film is too static to support the musical premise. It's sad to see such lackluster direction from the creator of _Hiroshima mon amour_. If you like Jaoui and Bacri, go see _Le gout des autres_!

The films central theme, that of having characters break into lip-synced song and dance routines, is not original and indeed the film introduction acknowledges the debt to the UK playwright Dennis Potter. The plot of the film is enjoyable in a light hearted way and the characters well drawn and played. As a English speaker I assume that we lose something of the effect as the songs chosen are not familiar to us as no doubt they would be to a native French viewer. What does irritate slightly I found is the overuse of the "break into song". Potter, if my memory is correct, uses it far more sparingly with a few larger set pieces. At points in this film the characters are breaking into song so often that it feels as if the plot will be broken too much. Definitely worth watching though for the performances.

In many ways "On connait la chanson" is precursor to a new method of film-making undertaken by veteran French director Alain Resnais.This is the second film by Resnais (I want to go home) which has palpable American influence on French culture.This is a film which features many versatile actors of French cinema who are part of his family of actors.Those who have seen "Coeurs" will have no trouble recognizing these stars.Jean Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui act as a couple who worked with Resnais on this film's screenplay.The philosophy of this tender,light hearted film is simple.If life is a song then a song must be sung.What we see and hear are many great songs of French music which were originally sung by famous French singers such as Alain Souchon,Edith Piaf,Jane Birkin etc.It can be surmised that in order to create suspense at the beginning of the film,Resnais even transported us back in past when he showed that Nazis had invaded Paris to destroy French capital.It is a great feeling that nothing like this happened.

In contrast with films from India, in which colorful song and dance is woven very naturally into a given scene, it has struck me how American and European conceptions of musicals often stop a scene cold to break into song. I never realized just how much of a cold stop it is until now, watching a movie that takes the notion to an odd new extreme and has actors lip-sync to small snippets of pop songs that have been licensed for the production. I'm not saying it's an inherently bad approach, but the discrepancy is jarring, especially when it's obviously not the same person speaking and then suddenly singing. On the other hand, the music is actually the least important aspect of this picture, and what 'On connaît la chanson' mostly represents is a delightful romantic comedy-drama. I don't personally think it's so special or singular as to wholly demand viewership, but it's well done and solidly entertaining; while I don't know about all the accolades, I understand why it broadly earned the acclaim that it did.

I'm of the mind that the writing is surely the strongest facet. Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri's screenplay serves up a fun comedy of errors, misunderstandings, and happenstance, with the developing or troubled romantic lives of the characters centered all the while. Into the mix is stirred a precise measure of earnest drama to propel and flavor the narrative: single characters with conflicted interests, others who are less than honest, some that are set opposed to one another, and so on. As robust scene writing and dialogue fill an engaging narrative, light on its feet, what actually comes across as far as I'm concerned is that the songs are a superfluous garnish - mismatched as they purposefully are with the scenes otherwise, additional lines of spoken dialogue would have served the same purpose without disrupting the flow of a moment, instead possibly only enhancing it. Still, at large the writing is excellent, not least as all the threads converge in the last act.

'On connaît la chansonis' is certainly a fine credit as well to the cast, all of whom give such strong performances that I'd be quite keen on seeing more of all their works. Not to name favorites, but Jaoui and Bacri themselves absolutely stand out as Camille and Nicolas respectively, with acting of especially admirable range and nuance that rather sets them apart. This is hardly to count out Sabine Azéma, André Dussollier, Lambert Wilson, or others, all just as commendable, and moreover director Alain Resnais orchestrates scenes with a welcome smoothness that makes the whole go down all the easier - including those songs, a stylistic choice I plainly disagree with, and other small embellishments here and there that don't specifically add anything to the picture, or possibly mostly distract from it. Mind you, some such instances are notably smarter than others, and or stitched in more seamlessly, but still I'm unsold on the affectation generally, especially as it strips away some of the sincerity of the storytelling.

In other regards the feature is splendidly well done; all the crew behind the scenes turned in fine work, including hair and makeup, costume design, and production design and art direction. My words have been of criticism as much as praise, but I really do like 'On connaît la chanson' - I just think that the totality of the awards it received somewhat oversell the viewing experience, particularly in light of imperfections including an unexpectedly curt ending. I believe it's a movie that most anyone could enjoy, and it deserves a firm recommendation for its able, satisfying blend of romance, comedy, and drama. I would also simply say that despite a bevy of César awards, this is something that's best appreciated on a lazy day rather than necessarily carving out a block of time to seek it out.

Shallow is the word that best describes this movie. One has to suffer through 2-hours of light entertainment, in which one is supposed to find depth in semi-comical moments, with the actors lip-syncing to french-oldies.

Actually, depth is also supposed to be found in the neurotic nature of the seemingly in control characters. Well, it's supposed to be found there, as the characters are 2-dimensional, the plot is 2-bit and the movie is 1-hour too long.

I'm giving it 2/10 because of the songs which I liked a lot, because of some funny moments and because of some moments of nice cinematography.

This film, a tribute to Dennis Potter (pennies from heaven, the singing detective), is the best french comedy I've ever seen. Basically it's a typical well-made french film about relations, with great acting, set in Paris. But it's more than that: it's also a musical. Here are some reasons why I think it's a great movie. First, the chansons, play-backed by the actors, are brilliant. Imagine a Wehrmachtofficer lipsinging to an Edith-Piaf chanson (in the opening act). The best thing about the chansons, is the fact that they actually support the story, as they serve as moments of reflection and introspection for the players. Maybe it's the contrast between the extreme sentimentality and the 'serious' acting that makes this film so great. Go see it.

I am sure that there are many out there that enjoyed this film a lot more than me and I think this film is a wonderful example of a film that you'll either love or hate. This is because the idea of people breaking into lip-sync songs is pretty peculiar and may not be for everyone! I actually didn't mind this concept, but strongly disliked the execution. Instead of singing long numbers and perhaps dancing or getting into the moment, instead the characters sang a line or two or three from a song and then very abruptly stopped. The shift in mood was just too abrupt and the surreal moments were never allowed to develop and captivate the audience. It really was as if they tried to cram way too many songs into the film so they abbreviated them so much that the viewer was left confused by how disjoint the film was. A nice attempt at something different, but not especially worth seeing.

it's a simple funny film that talks about few people who know each other or get to know each other afterward. The aspect that makes it differ from other movies is that the protagonists sing often their feelings or ideas! The used songs are popular French songs that are well known by everybody in France. I liked it in general but it is not a plot that interests me that much since the most of these relations were not that interesting for me. The most important human aspect that was shown in this movie is that many things are not as they seem to be! Some people show that they are strong and have great achievements and they have everything under control but they are not that achieving! They have to accept that they are only normal people and show their true selves to the others.

I will always go out of my way - in December last year I tracked down a tiny theatre - capacity roughly 50 - in a Parisian alley to catch a performance of their 'Un air de famille' (yes, it was great, thanks for asking) to see anything written by Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnes Jouai, and if they are performing as well, as they do in this movie, then that is icing on the cake. I tend to associate Resnais with pretentious intellectual 'popcorn' movies like Last Year At Marienbad and Hiroshima, Mon Amour so it makes a welcome change to discover that he can turn his hand to mainstream and deliver, with a little help from a great script and great acting from Bacri and Jouai, a great feel-good movie. The usual suspects - Andre Dussolier, Pierre Arditi, etc are on hand and turn in the usual above par performances. This is one to savor. 8/10

In the unapproximate center of "On connaît la chanson," find a marvelous joke that missed by everyone at the sold out SFIFF screening I attended. If you want to try to catch it yourself, then don't read on! I'm writing to those of you who didn't or won't catch it. Four or five characters are seated chatting or arguing, I forget, round a table in a busy restaurant. As you know from other comments here, the script incorporates line fragments from well-known French songs (kind of like those "hidden picture" puzzles in the dentist office magazine). As each occurs, someone bursts into song. One of our group, after an unremarkable, perfectly conversational pause, says "je ne regret rien," then pauses, as does everyone else round the table. They look at one another, everyone at everyone, the very clatter of the restaurant seems to pause, waiting, and for the only time in this film, nobody takes the cue. Nobody breaks into the Piaf standard.

This film is funny, witty and most importantly it works both as a serious film and a homage to Dennis Potter. Great acting, wonderful songs and an undercurrent of wit. One of my favourite French Films of recent times.

You probably know already that people in this movie simply start singing out of the blue but, unlike We usually see in musicals, no one starts dancing. Frankly, I almost lost interest in the fate of the characters, but managed to see this movie to the end, and It was funny enough, even though I did not know most of the songs. So I guess this can be fun to watch even if You, like myself, do not know much about French pop.