Paroles et musique

"Paroles et Musique" is an incredibly weak film and my score of 3 is perhaps a bit higher than it deserves--even with Catheerine Deneuve in the lead. There are many reasons not to bother with this film--I'll explain them below. But first, a brief outline of the plot. The film begins with Deneuve's husband leaving her and their two kids. What led up to this is uncertain, but he apparently left the country to 'find himself'--whatever that means. After a few months of being very lonely, she begins a VERY brief affair with an amazingly poor musician (Christopher Lambert). As for Lambert, he and his musical partner seem to be bisexuals (though this is not 100% clear--but very, very, very strongly implied) and both decide in this film to explore relationships with women instead of each other and their musical partnership is tested. In the end, the music is what is important and despite some disappointments in love, they'll always have their music together.

This film is one of the least romantic romances I've ever seen. There's practically no chemistry between the two leads and it defies logic that Lambert's character becomes so whiny and stricken with love for her considering they barely know each other. He can't sing, he can't write his music--all he can do is whine and mope about--now THAT'S a great character! And, considering that she IS married and her kids would like nothing more than to see their parents reunited, you can't exactly root for Lambert--especially since their 'love' seems to be mostly glandular. As for Lambert's partner, he, too, has an affair with a married woman--nice guys, eh?! I don't know about you, but guys sleeping with married ladies is NOT what I call romance! The second major problem is that Lambert and his partner are supposed to be wonderful musicians. While both can sing, their voices are incredibly weak and wimpy (like their characters) and their becoming a success seems silly--even in the dismal world of 1980s pop music! It just isn't believable.

The final problem is the ending. Despite the relationship between Deneuve and Lambert being so incredibly brief and obviously doomed, Lambert behaves like an idiot. You feel like yelling 'be a man, you wet noodle' as he stops working and is about to give up his career. And he would have if Deneuve's character had wanted him! Not exactly a tower of strength and manliness! Overall, this is a musical romance with terrible music and poor romance. Despite my loving French films, this is one that is practically impossible to love and I can easily see why, so far, no one else has bothered reviewing it! Soggy and unappealing.

In the 80's, musical films were again in fashion. From Alan Parker's "Fame", to "Footloose" and "Flashdance", many a film were promoted through their soundtracks , full of global smash hits. The difference between these ones and "Paroles et musique" is that they have an undeniable quality, excellent characters, and a well-developed plot. The latter, on the other hand, is a pure disappointment.

The plot revolves around a music agent, Margaux (Catherine Deneuve), who is searching for new talents to recruit. Not only is she pressed in her job, but her American husband is off again to one of his business trips, leaving her alone with her two spoilt kids (her daughter being played by debutante Charlotte Gainsbourg, who was to gain fame a year later through Claude Miller's excellent film "L'effrontée"). As if a miracle, she finds two poor musicians (Richard Anconina and Christophe Lambert), who play exactly the kind of awful synth music her bosses are searching for. So stars the story that will later evolve into a romance between Margaux and Lambert, and the quest for success, which the two musicians undertake.

While the plot was promising for someone who loves French 80's music, and cinema, it was deficient in both the first one and the other. Veteran composer Michel Legrand was asked to write the music, and he did an awful job. Comprised of boring synthesizer-driven pieces, it can't stand up to the actual hits of the era - and, believe me, the French music scene had a lot to offer back then- with the choice to let Lambert and Anconina sing being an unfortunate one.

As for the latter feature - by this I mean the cinema-, both the direction and the acting were average. The director, Élie Chouraqui did little to improve the already weak plot, making the film a series of long shots that just drag on and on, with the characters just talking about their ambitions of fame .

Speaking of the characters, they were utterly unconvincing, since the actors' performances were of low quality. This does injustice to them, Anconina, Lambert and Deneuve being otherwise excellent actors (see for that "Police", "Subway" and "Le dernier métro" respectively). In this movie, they can't do much themselves, since the plot doesn't let them do anything special. I can safely say that Charlotte Gainsbourg gave the best performance, showing the emotional intensity that would make her name in "L'effrontée".

Essentially, this film feels like a promotion campaign for the new faces of the period's cinema (Anconina and Lambert). Maybe they either should have been replaced, or been given a better story, in which the framework they could act better.

All in all, I can understand why this movie surpassed one million admissions in 1984, belonging to a genre that was popular back then. But now, "Paroles et musique" seems incredibly dated, and has deservedly been forgotten. The French cinema of the 80's has truly better movies to offer.