Quand j'étais chanteur (2006)

Director:

Xavier Giannoli

Writer:

Xavier Giannoli (writer)

Release Date:

13 September 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Sometimes love can be found in the most unexpected places (DVD Australia)

Plot:

Alain Moreau sings for one of the few remaining dance-bands in Clermont-Ferrand. Though something of...

Plot Keywords:

Crooner | Karaoke | Ballad

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Gérard Depardieu	...	Alain Moreau
Cécile De France	...	Marion
Mathieu Amalric	...	Bruno
Christine Citti	...	Michèle
Patrick Pineau	...	Daniel
Alain Chanone	...	Philippe Mariani
Christophe	...	Himself / En personne
Jean-Pierre Gos	...	Le maire
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Camille De Pazzis	...	Jennifer
Antoine de Prekel	...	Martin
Marie Kremer
Alain Kruger	...	The doctor
Catherine Salviat
Grégory Valais	...	Fabrice

Directed by
Xavier Giannoli

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Xavier Giannoli		writer

Produced by
Luc Besson	....	executive producer
Jean Coulon	....	associate producer
Michel de Wouters	....	associate producer
Pierre-Ange Le Pogam	....	producer
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant producer
Edouard Weil	....	producer

Original Music by
Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by
Yorick Le Saux

Film Editing by
Martine Giordano

Casting by
Antoinette Boulat

Production Design by
François-Renaud Labarthe

Art Direction by
Emmanuelle Cuillery

Costume Design by
Nathalie Benros

Production Management
Martin Allegaree	....	unit manager trainee
Mederic Bourlat	....	production manager
Gregory Bruneau	....	assistant unit manager
Sébastien Delepine	....	unit manager trainee
Amélie Melkonian	....	assistant production manager
Guinal Riou	....	assistant unit manager
Grégory Valais	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dominique Delany	....	first assistant director
Ludovic Giraud	....	third assistant director
Bosco Justine	....	assistant director

Art Department
Emmanuelle Cuillery	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Gabriel Hafner	....	sound
Erwan Kerzanet	....	boom operator
François Musy	....	sound
Renaud Musy	....	sound assistant

Camera and Electrical Department
Emile Dubuisson	....	first assistant camera

Editorial Department
Basile Belkhiri	....	assistant editor: avid
Mathilde Delacroix	....	color timer
Marie-Julie Maille	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jean-Yves d'Angelo	....	music arranger: songs
Jérôme Lateur	....	music supervisor
Vincent Lebegue	....	music legal coordinator
Elise Luguern	....	music production supervisor
Alexandre Mahout	....	music assistant

Other crew
Patrick Boshart	....	location scout
Myriam Bruguière	....	press attache
Nathalie Choukroun-Lacoste	....	legal assistant
Olivier Guigues	....	press attache
Clémentine Harland	....	production coordinator
Thomas Percy	....	press attache
Leila Smith	....	production assistant
Élodie Van Beuren	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Europa Corp.
• Rectangle Productions
• France 3 Cinéma
• Sofica Europacorp

Distributors

• Artificial Eye (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Divisa Home Video (2008) (Spain) (DVD)
• EuropaCorp. Distribution (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Karma Films (2007) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Monopole-Pathé (2006-2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Europa Corp.  international sales

Also Known As:

The Singer (Australia) (festival title)

Runtime:

France:112 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, France

Company:

Europa Corp.

Movie Connections:

Features Stromboli (1950)

a bittersweet love story, punctuated by music

'Quand j'étais chanteur' (or 'The Singer') is a lovely, funny, bittersweet film which gives Gérard Depardieu an excellent leading role as cynical, arrogant, washed-up singer Alain Moreau, who sings love tunes for middle-aged lady dancers who adore him. He meanwhile searches for love and finds something akin to it in the person of damaged, deep, prickly Marion (Cécile De France), many years his junior and out of his league.

Depardieu, even approaching his sixties, brings a mix of bravado, charm, and vulnerability to the character of Moreau. Sometimes you can see where he is coming from, sometimes you sympathise, sometimes you laugh, sometimes you are irritated - a well rounded character, believable, and just that little bit broken from a lost chance to rebuild a marriage, the idea that he just might be a nicer guy than the ladykiller he has become.

With Mathieu Amalric as Bruno, friend, estate agent, adversary, and Christine Citti as Michèle, former wife and backing singer, muse and manager, 'The Singer' is an intimate portrait of where life can take you if you just stop and let it. It does not shy away from poignancy and the ubiquitous happy ending, but on the way it makes its creations real and their problems and preoccupations realistic.

The songs, incidentally, are sung by Depardieu and although the lyrics may be lacking in style (certainly in their translation), the delivery and ambiance proves there may well be life in the old dog yet, making it understandable why Moreau has become the obsession and fixation of lonely single, divorced, or widowed women. But under the gloss and the stagecraft is someone just as lonely, just as envious of the passing of time, and this is the ultimate strength of the film, making that obvious.