Les Chansons D'Amour

So, I was only going to 'review' new shit, but then I watched this film last night and decided I had to write something about it. I wasn't that optimistic prior to watching due to two factors: I am not by any means a sucker for poncey French sentimentalism, and it only has 2.5 stars on Lovefilm, which I have come to realise means jack shit, but even so, it tainted my disposition. In addition, as a general rule, I don't like anything resembling a musical. It repulses the realism lover in me.

Anyway, first things first. Louis Garrel is a sexy motherfucker. I really do mean sexy here, in a really weird grotesque way where I find his face so intensely fascinating that it becomes an obsession. So I'll be frank, any film with him in was probably going to win my affections in some way, because paying attention was destined to be undemanding at worst. Also, it's not just Garrel in a film, it's Garrel in a SEXUALLY CHALLENGING film. Which brings me onto my next, more substantial and less shallow point...

Les Chansons D'Amour is not a modest attempt at film making. It deals with bisexuality (or homosexuality if you want to conclude that, but I don't), threesomes, death, family relationships, and alongside all that it has to strive to come under the genre of 'musical' without being nauseatingly tacky. The sexuality in the film, in my opinion, is pretty alluring. I like the idea of sexuality having no labels, and I like the fact that when both Ismael and Ludivine are asked to explain their relationships at different points of the film, they don't really feel obliged to. I basically think it manages to portray bisexuality effectively enough that you don't want to question it.

The musical aspect of the film doesn't bother me one way or the other. I mean considering I generally hate musicals, the fact that I didn't smash up the DVD player in abject horror means Christophe Honore has won really. Some of the songs are catchy, and some of them are pretty cute. Actually, fuck it, I'm going to go all out and say the songs actually add to the film as opposed to just running alongside it trying to keep up. Yeah, that's right, you heard me.

I realise this review is almost offensively positive, therefore my criticism will be that the ending had the same kind of intensity that an orgasm has when you've already had about five and you can't be fucked anymore but you're bored enough to get there. It's still good, but it's not the climax you were hoping for. I think that's a good sexual metaphor for a film that I think was considerably sexy despite the whole death vibe.

Enough, I'm now going to go and watch Hollyoaks to balance the brilliance to complete and utter shite ratio that governs my screen viewing.