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:

Karaoke | Crooner | 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

Also Known As:

The Singer (Australia) (festival title)

Runtime:

France:112 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

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

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.