- Actors: Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azéma, Jean-Pierre Bacri, André Dussollier, Agnès Jaoui
- Directors: Alain Resnais
- Writers: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui
- Producers: Bruno Pésery, Michel Seydoux, Ruth Waldburger
- Format: PAL
- Language French
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.77:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: PG
- Studio: Pathe
- DVD Release Date: 31 Oct 2005
- Run Time: 120 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000ARFNP0
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 64,603 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an adaptation of the Dennis Potter style from PENNIES FROM HEAVEN where popular song bursts into drama to reflect the views/thoughts of the character. ON CONNAIT uses much shorter sections of song than I remember Potter using. As the songs will not always be well known to a non-French audience some of the message is lost, additionally, the use of songs over a forty year period leads to a different feel to the more focussed songs of Potter's scripts. The songs are effective, but much less so than in Potter.
Which takes us back to the characters who are often interrelated with the traditional multiple connections; the sister of X knows Y who is renting X a property, Y employs Z who admires X's sister and is looking for a flat for T who used to go out with X etc etc. Here ON CONNAIT can be both funny and bittersweet. The chauffeur with his hypochondria and fear of failure in the eyes of his English wife played by Jane Birkin (Charlotte Rampling having the afternoon off that day) is a good example. Though the best "moment" for me is the clever misdirection set up with Pierre Arditti's character using an Aznavour song which sold me a dummy. In short it is Alain Renais country and you will love it or otherwise on the same basis as much of his work.
I liked it.
Which takes us back to the characters who are often interrelated with the traditional multiple connections; the sister of X knows Y who is renting X a property, Y employs Z who admires X's sister and is looking for a flat for T who used to go out with X etc etc. Here ON CONNAIT can be both funny and bittersweet. The chauffeur with his hypochondria and fear of failure in the eyes of his English wife played by Jane Birkin (Charlotte Rampling having the afternoon off that day) is a good example. Though the best "moment" for me is the clever misdirection set up with Pierre Arditti's character using an Aznavour song which sold me a dummy. In short it is Alain Renais country and you will love it or otherwise on the same basis as much of his work.
I liked it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
On Connait la Chanson/Same Old Song is more a Jean-Claude Bacri-Agnes Jaoui movie than an Alain Resnais one. It's very much one of their comedies of social manners, somewhat slower to start than usual and stymied by the unfortunate device of having the characters sing snatches of popular French songs to articulate their thoughts. An acknowledged nod to Dennis Potter (to whom the film is dedicated), it simply doesn't work here, and not just because the cast are hopeless at miming (at times they don't even bother to move their lips). Unfortunately, apart from a couple of instances, we never get complete songs - sometimes we don't even get complete verses - leaving it with a feeling of cinematic indigestion rather than charm or wit: if it had had the guts to go all out with the songs, it probably would have worked, but here it just seems half-hearted and badly thought out.
Which is a pity, because once the various wheels are set in motion, it's a very likeable comedy with a few good performances - particularly Andre Dussolier (wonderful as a radio playwright/estate agent), Bacri and, in one brief scene, the ever dependable Jean-Pierre Darrousain. Some of the misunderstandings and embarrassments are painfully true to life (not least a romance built on one character misunderstanding another's cold for emotion) and there's a real affection for the characters. Unfortunately some of the women veer towards stereotype: Sabine Azema always threatens to turn into one of those pantomime bourgeois parodies Mike Leigh is so fond of and it's becoming increasingly obvious that Jaoui simply creates variations on the same part for herself in all her scripts. But there's still a lot to like about the film even if the songs do keep on getting in the way.
Which is a pity, because once the various wheels are set in motion, it's a very likeable comedy with a few good performances - particularly Andre Dussolier (wonderful as a radio playwright/estate agent), Bacri and, in one brief scene, the ever dependable Jean-Pierre Darrousain. Some of the misunderstandings and embarrassments are painfully true to life (not least a romance built on one character misunderstanding another's cold for emotion) and there's a real affection for the characters. Unfortunately some of the women veer towards stereotype: Sabine Azema always threatens to turn into one of those pantomime bourgeois parodies Mike Leigh is so fond of and it's becoming increasingly obvious that Jaoui simply creates variations on the same part for herself in all her scripts. But there's still a lot to like about the film even if the songs do keep on getting in the way.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
... with a twist. Will especially appeal to those who have a sense for the kitschiness of musicals, as the director most certainly plays around with it. It will also greatly appeal to those who have a decent perception of French music over the past thirty to fifty years as quite a few nuumbers are sprinkled through the movie.
A great bittersweet comedy - Also check out "cuisine et dependance" and "un air de famille" -
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