| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
A |
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|
| Visuals: |
B |
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|
Beautiful.
by Olga (movies profile)
May 18, 2008
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
Love Songs is often wrongly put into the art house section, so I want to make one thing perfectly clear: it is not art house. But, forgive me for saying this, for me it is a good thing. It means the director doesn't drag on and on in a fit of artistic arrogance, telling an incoherent story that a simple viewer like me couldn't possibly begin to understand, and, most importantly, wouldn't want to.
Instead, it is one of those movies you simply enjoy.
It is beautiful and touching, it has great rhythm and flow. It's main theme is, of course, love, but thanks to good acting, the movie never seems quite as banal as the title might suggest.
Love Songs is also profoundly French, from the number of cigarettes shamelessly smoked on screen to the treatment of the theme of sexuality: in this film it is never an issue we could expect it to become. Ismael doesn't suddenly realize he is gay, he simply moves on to a new relationship, and we skip all the usual contemplating and suffering. For all I know, this could have nothing to do with the real France, but then, Love Songs is not a documentary.
Finally, the songs themselves (and there are quite a few) are as simple and beautiful as the film itself. They don't define the movie, but rather complete it, therefore I wouldn't go so far as to call it a musical.
Al in all, I would recommend it to any one who feels there isn't quite enough romance in real life. |
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