Quand j'étais chanteur (2006)

Note des utilisateurs:

6.6/10   

Réalisateur:

Xavier Giannoli

Scénariste:

Xavier Giannoli (writer)

Release Date:

13 septembre 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drame | Music | Romance

Accroche:

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:

Clermont Ferrand | Vulcan | Ballad | Karaoke | Crooner

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

When he was a singer...

Ensemble

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
reste de la distribution par ordre alphabétique:
Camille De Pazzis	...	Jennifer
Antoine de Prekel	...	Martin
Marie Kremer
Alain Kruger	...	The doctor
Catherine Salviat
Grégory Valais	...	Fabrice

Réalisé par
Xavier Giannoli

Scénaristes (in alphabetical order)
Xavier Giannoli		writer

Produit par
Manon Baudoin	....	assistant producer
Luc Besson	....	executive producer
Jean Coulon	....	associate producer
Michel de Wouters	....	associate producer
Pierre-Ange Le Pogam	....	producer
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant producer
Edouard Weil	....	producer

Musique originale
Alexandre Desplat

Image
Yorick Le Saux

Montage
Martine Giordano

Distribution des rôles
Antoinette Boulat

Création des décors
François-Renaud Labarthe

Direction artistique
Emmanuelle Cuillery

Création des costumes
Nathalie Benros

Directeur de production
Martin Allegaree	....	unit manager trainee
Mederic Bourlat	....	production manager
Gregory Bruneau	....	assistant unit manager
Sébastien Delepine	....	unit manager trainee
Amélie Melkonian	....	assistant production manager
Guinal Riou	....	assistant unit manager
Grégory Valais	....	unit manager

Assistant réalisateur
Dominique Delany	....	first assistant director
Ludovic Giraud	....	third assistant director
Bosco Justine	....	assistant director

Art Department
Stephane Condat	....	set dresser
Emmanuelle Cuillery	....	assistant art director
Fanny Stauff	....	first assistant decorator

Technicien du son
Fabien Adelin	....	foley recordist
Gabriel Hafner	....	sound
Erwan Kerzanet	....	boom operator
François Musy	....	sound
Renaud Musy	....	sound assistant
Matthieu Sibony	....	supervising sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Philippe Bordelais	....	steadicam operator
Emile Dubuisson	....	first assistant camera

Editorial Department
Mathilde Delacroix	....	color timer
Marie-Julie Maille	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jean-Yves d'Angelo	....	music arranger: songs
Jérôme Lateur	....	music supervisor
Vincent Lebegue	....	music legal coordinator
Elise Luguern	....	music production supervisor
Alexandre Mahout	....	music assistant
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant music supervisor

Divers
Patrick Boshart	....	location scout
Myriam Bruguière	....	press attache
Sandie Cabrol	....	production coordinator
Nathalie Choukroun-Lacoste	....	legal assistant
Olivier Guigues	....	press attache
Clémentine Harland	....	production coordinator
Thomas Percy	....	press attache
Leila Smith	....	production assistant
Élodie Van Beuren	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Europa Corp.
• Rectangle Productions
• France 3 Cinéma
• Sofica Europacorp

Distributors

• Artificial Eye (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Divisa Home Video (2008) (Spain) (DVD)
• EuropaCorp. Distribution (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Karma Films (2007) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Monopole-Pathé (2006-2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)

Autre(s) titre(s):

The Singer (Australia) (festival title)

Durée:

France:112 min

Pays:

France

Langue:

Français

Couleur:

Couleur

Classification:

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

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, France

Company:

Europa Corp.

Movie Connections:

Features Stromboli (1950)

When he was a singer...

Xavier Giannoli's Quand J'étais Chanteur aka The Singer isn't a great film, but it is a very good character piece that's lifted to a higher level by Gerard Depardieu in a superb return to form after years of slumming it in well paid but increasingly undemanding production line efforts.

Alain Moreau (Depardieu) is an ageing singer trading on forgotten hits to get gigs on the provincial nightclub circuit - tea dances, openings, office parties, old folks homes or restaurants where the diners don't even notice when he takes a break, he's strictly smalltime and he knows it. Singing songs with lyrics like 'You know those photos of Asia/That I shot on 200 ASA' and practising his pickup technique on bored wives and girlfriends during a break in his act for a tombola, his job is to get them to drink champagne – "They don't care about the songs, so I'm often just singing for myself." That threatens to change when one-night stand Cecile De France's realtor walks out on him and he starts to pursue her, first out of wounded pride but later out of genuine need as he begins to realise what's missing from his life. Not that it's a typical romance – the only way he can get close to her long enough to work his way past her defences is to spend weeks looking at houses he won't buy.

While it sounds like the setup for either a broad comedy or Le Fabuleaux Boulangere Garcon, it's rather more unexpected. De France's character is struggling to get over the collapse of her disastrous marriage and even as affection starts to grow between them, the best that's on offer is a rebound relationship based on the fact that she can't see him a serious longterm proposition. Nor, it's revealed, is it the first time that Depardieu's singer has had such a romantic epiphany, with his ex-wife and manager (Christine Citti) recognising all the signs, resenting the possibility that he wants to give another the kind of family life he denied her. Yet it's not a bitter film, more a wistful one about relations born more of quiet desperation at what's missing rather than real love. It's no accident that he falls for her when his career is increasingly under threat from karaoke, DJs and the realisation that his voice may not hold out much longer.

De France and a largely wasted Mathieu Almaric are excellent, but it's clearly Depardieu's show. It's tempting to see similarities in Depardieu's own career, having gone from working with the best directors in Europe on great films to doing the rounds of cameos in increasingly perfunctory international co-productions, but the real joy here is seeing the star rediscovering his own talent throughout the film with a performance that ranks among his very best. Unlike his character, there's not a trace of vanity in his performance as he happily chats away with De France about highlighting his hair or his tanning regime like a schoolgirl exchanging beauty tips (at one point he even sings about feeling like a girl!), managing a perfect balancing act between the singer's mediocrity and his dignity. It's a fully rounded portrait so beautifully realised that you can even overlook the fact that (perhaps deliberately) he's not much of a singer, though he's at his best in end credits with a truly delightful rendition of the title song (When I Was a Singer) when the character has reconciled himself to his life. It's almost worth the price of admission on its own, but thanks to Depardieu there's much more going for it than that. Well worth a look.