Mélo (1986)

In Paris in the 1920s, a concert violinist meets and falls in love with a stylish young flapper who's the wife of an old friend. Romaine instigates the affair with Marcel, and carries it ... See full summary »

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writers:

Henri Bernstein (play), Alain Resnais (adaptation)

Stars:

Sabine Azéma, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sabine Azéma	...	Romaine Belcroix
Fanny Ardant	...	Christiane Levesque
Pierre Arditi	...	Pierre Belcroix
André Dussollier	...	Marcel Blanc
Jacques Dacqmine	...	Dr. Remy
Hubert Gignoux	...	Le Prêtre
Catherine Arditi	...	Yvonne

Storyline

In Paris in the 1920s, a concert violinist meets and falls in love with a stylish young flapper who's the wife of an old friend. Romaine instigates the affair with Marcel, and carries it forward even as her husband, Pierre, falls ill. She may even be purposely giving Pierre a treatment that adds to his misery. After Marcel returns from a concert tour and Romaine stoops to a new low in abandoning Pierre for an assignation, she reconsiders the affair and takes a drastic step. Three years later, Pierre pays Marcel a visit to demand the truth. Will the jealous and aggrieved Marcel manage a convincing performance?

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Plot Keywords:

long take | concert violinist | violinist | 1920s | love | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

3 September 1986 (France)

Also Known As:

Mélo

Filming Locations:

Studios de Boulogne-Billancourt/SFP - 2 Rue de Silly, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Films A2, MK2 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

The introductory credits are presented as a book containing textual information as well as pictures. The pages are turned by a female hand and turning the last (introductory) page opens the story (film).

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Connections

Version of Der träumende Mund (1953)

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Soundtracks

Sonate pour violon seul en ut majeur
Performed by Christophe Giovaninetti, violin

User Reviews

staging a movie

The title is a chic abbreviation for 'melodrama', of which there's no shortage in this urbane period piece about a lovelorn musician enjoying an affair with the wife of his best friend. Director Alain Resnais makes no attempt to open up Henry Bernstein's 1929 stage play or hide its theatrical trappings, going so far as to fade in and out of a shot of closed curtains between each 'act'. The story offers plenty of food for thought, but the nuances of each relationship are undermined by the often dry and detached script readings, punctuated by moments of deliberate histrionic overkill, most of them provided by (an all-too animated) Sabine Azema, playing the wife of one man and mistress to another. Nevertheless it's a welcome return to Earth for an erstwhile pioneer of some of the most opaque French New Wave cinema, showing a subtlety rare even for such highbrow entertainment.