The World Has Had Enough of Silly Love Songs

This week I fell in love once again. The object of my affection is a French film entitled Les Chansons d'amour, or Love Songs in English, and it's not silly at all. It's a musical, although only in the loosest sense of the term. There are no lavish musical numbers here, just people singing while walking, sitting, and talking. That may sound a bit silly, but it's all really low key and the characters ease into the songs rather than break out into them. At the beginning, Ismaël (played by Louis Garrel, on whom I've had a bit of a crush since The Dreamers) is in a relationship with Julie. They live together and they sleep together with Alice. There are problems in the relationship, which are rendered moot when tragedy strikes. After the tragedy, Ismaël must deal with his grief which he doesn't always do in the most constructive manner. Working through his grief leads him to find love once again in an unexpected place, the arms of Alice's new boyfriend's brother. The film could be described as unabashedly bisexual in it's content. However, it's less about sexuality and more about how there really are no rules to falling in love. We just do. After the click, there is a clip of my favorite scene and a bit more on the film.

I'm very disappointed in the way this film was marketed. It was made to seem like it was all about a threesome. The threesome, ironically, is only a third of the film, which is told in three distinct parts with each one having it's own title. The threesome is followed by grieving, which is then followed by finding love once again. If you're in the market for a film all about three people getting it on, then you'll be sorely disappointed. If, however, you are interested in a film about love, loss, grief, and family with the most romantic gay scene possibly ever, then this is the film for you. Well, it's the film for you if you know French or aren't allergic to subtitles.