For the final day of the ICM Musical challenge I started looking round for any DVDs I might have of Musicals waiting to view. Moving a pile of DVD's that a family friend recently gave me,I was thrilled to stumble on a French Musical, which led to me booking 36 tickets to Paris.
The plot-
In a police station, Pigoil explains the events which led to him committing a murder.
Paris:New Years Day 1936:
Learning on New Years Eve in 1935 that his wife has been unfaithful, stage manager of the Chansonia music hall Pigoil rings in the New Year by local gangster Galapiat closing the club down. Struggling to find new work,Pigoil gets an extra kicking when he loses custody of his young son Jo-Jo. All in a similar situation,Pigoil and his friends decide to team-up and re-open the Chansonia. Initially angered by Pigoil overturning his orders, Galapiat gets a glimpse of the new direction Pigoil is taking the club in,when he meets the new leading star Douce.
View on the film:
Going back in time with a dazzling crane/steadicam opening shot, (all done in one take) co-writer/(with Julien Rappeneau/ Pierre Philippe/Frank Thomas/ Reinhardt Wagner and Jean-Michel Derenne ) director Christophe Barratier & cinematographer Tom Stern go back to a rustic Fantasy version of Paris in 1936,with vivid blue and gold filters giving the re-opened Chansonia an atmosphere of wander. Lifting the curtain to go backstage,Barratier makes each Musical number feed into the state of turnaround that the club is in at that point,as a gradual fading of lights and elegant whip-pans uncover the pressure Pigoil and Douce are under to keep the demands of Galapiat hidden backstage.
Partly based on Edith Piaf's relationship with nightclub owner Louis Leplee,the writers brilliantly thread an episodic thread around the Chansonia,via the moody Melodrama of Douce romantic heart criss- crossing with Pigoil's playfully funny fights to put his dream shows for the Chansonia on. Paying loving tribute to the "Dream Factory" eras of Hollywood and French cinema,the writers cook up a sweet pastiche,where all of the union strikes and the increased appearances of Fascists can't dim the lights of the Chansonia in putting on an escapist show for a troubled public.
Reuniting with Barratier, Gérard Jugnot gives a fantastic "everyman" performance as Pigoil,whose dry, determined wit Pigoil uses for dead-pan punchlines,whilst Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu gives Galapiat a slippery menace/fake charm. Kicking up the footlights, the very pretty Nora Arnezeder gives an exquisite performance as Douce,thanks to Arnezeder balancing the mischievous charisma Douce with the fragile love that Douce can barely keep wrapped in the curtains of the Chansonia.
The plot-
In a police station, Pigoil explains the events which led to him committing a murder.
Paris:New Years Day 1936:
Learning on New Years Eve in 1935 that his wife has been unfaithful, stage manager of the Chansonia music hall Pigoil rings in the New Year by local gangster Galapiat closing the club down. Struggling to find new work,Pigoil gets an extra kicking when he loses custody of his young son Jo-Jo. All in a similar situation,Pigoil and his friends decide to team-up and re-open the Chansonia. Initially angered by Pigoil overturning his orders, Galapiat gets a glimpse of the new direction Pigoil is taking the club in,when he meets the new leading star Douce.
View on the film:
Going back in time with a dazzling crane/steadicam opening shot, (all done in one take) co-writer/(with Julien Rappeneau/ Pierre Philippe/Frank Thomas/ Reinhardt Wagner and Jean-Michel Derenne ) director Christophe Barratier & cinematographer Tom Stern go back to a rustic Fantasy version of Paris in 1936,with vivid blue and gold filters giving the re-opened Chansonia an atmosphere of wander. Lifting the curtain to go backstage,Barratier makes each Musical number feed into the state of turnaround that the club is in at that point,as a gradual fading of lights and elegant whip-pans uncover the pressure Pigoil and Douce are under to keep the demands of Galapiat hidden backstage.
Partly based on Edith Piaf's relationship with nightclub owner Louis Leplee,the writers brilliantly thread an episodic thread around the Chansonia,via the moody Melodrama of Douce romantic heart criss- crossing with Pigoil's playfully funny fights to put his dream shows for the Chansonia on. Paying loving tribute to the "Dream Factory" eras of Hollywood and French cinema,the writers cook up a sweet pastiche,where all of the union strikes and the increased appearances of Fascists can't dim the lights of the Chansonia in putting on an escapist show for a troubled public.
Reuniting with Barratier, Gérard Jugnot gives a fantastic "everyman" performance as Pigoil,whose dry, determined wit Pigoil uses for dead-pan punchlines,whilst Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu gives Galapiat a slippery menace/fake charm. Kicking up the footlights, the very pretty Nora Arnezeder gives an exquisite performance as Douce,thanks to Arnezeder balancing the mischievous charisma Douce with the fragile love that Douce can barely keep wrapped in the curtains of the Chansonia.