Avenue Montaigne (2006)
"Fauteuils d'orchestre" (original title)

A young woman arrives in Paris where she finds a job as a waitress in bar next on Avenue Montaigne that caters to the surrounding theaters and the wealthy inhabitants of the area. She will meet a pianist, a famous actress and a great art collector, and become acquainted with the "luxurious" world her grandmother has told her about since her childhood.

Director:

Danièle Thompson

Writers:

Danièle Thompson (screenplay), Christopher Thompson (screenplay),

Stars:

Valérie Lemercier, Cécile De France, Albert Dupontel

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Valérie Lemercier	...	Catherine Versen
Cécile De France	...	Jessica
Albert Dupontel	...	Jean-François Lefort
Claude Brasseur	...	Jacques Grumberg
Christopher Thompson	...	Frédéric Grumberg
Dani	...	Claudie
Laura Morante	...	Valentine Lefort
Suzanne Flon	...	Madame Roux
Sydney Pollack	...	Brian Sobinsky
François Rollin	...	Marcel
Guillaume Gallienne	...	Pascal
Annelise Hesme	...	Valérie
Françoise Lépine	...	Magali Garrel
Michel Vuillermoz	...	Félix
Daniel Benoin	...	Daniel Bercoff

Storyline

Jessica, raised by her grandmother, comes to Paris and gets a job at a bar across from a performance complex where a play, a concert, and an art auction will occur the same evening. It's a world in flux: the play's star wants off a popular TV soap that's made her rich, and she covets the lead in a film about de Beauvoir and Sartre; the pianist hates the concert circuit, but his wife who's his manager may leave him if he quits; a self-made widower with a girlfriend less than half his age is selling his collection of modern art - his son, a professor, objects to his father's love life. The stage manager at the complex is resigning after 30 years. Jessica sets the tone for how all plays out.

---

Plot Keywords:

concert | manager | bar | pianist | waitress | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong language and brief sexuality

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English Japanese

Release Date:

15 February 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

Avenue Montaigne

Filming Locations:

15 - Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Avenue Montaigne, Paris 8, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

€8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$37,677 (USA) (16 February 2007)

Gross:

$2,044,614 (USA) (20 July 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thelma Films, StudioCanal, TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 100 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa d'exploitation en France # 112436

---

Goofs

When Dupontel (Jean-François Lefort) gives his concert and takes off his shirt and jacket they change places, first in front of the long end of the piano then in the next cut much closer to the keyboard end.

---

Crazy Credits

Before end credits: "À Suzanne" (dedicated to Suzanne Flon who died at 87 shortly after filming was completed), as we hear an off-screen quote by her - taken from earlier in the film - where the elderly character she plays serenely states that she had a good life.

---

Connections

References Taxi Driver (1976)

---

Soundtracks

"TV"
Written by Pascal Lafa

User Reviews

Pianist in a cage

"The question is, what's this all about, and why must we concern ourselves with the 'predicaments' of people who from the looks of it are so singularly fortunate in life?" (Chris Knipp).

Chris Knipp, no offence, hasn't understood the movie's main idea at all. This, in my experience, is what the movie is all about – the separation between "high class" classical music and life. Classical music, as all music, stems from life itself, is inspired and shaped by it. One can see how, exemplified by the pianist, this form of human expression is put in the strait-jacket of so-called "high culture". Said pianist is fortunate indeed to have his talent, but he's hardly able to breathe, to enjoy and live his talents because he's made to put up a show, to dance to the tune of what he himself calls "the system".