Alain Resnais makes his family of actors to sing great French songs ! ! ! !

On connaît la chanson (1997) directed by Alain Resnais

In many ways "On connait la chanson" is precursor to a new method of film-making undertaken by veteran French director Alain Resnais.This is the second film by Resnais (I want to go home) which has palpable American influence on French culture.This is a film which features many versatile actors of French cinema who are part of his family of actors.Those who have seen "Coeurs" will have no trouble recognizing these stars.Jean Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui act as a couple who worked with Resnais on this film's screenplay.The philosophy of this tender,light hearted film is simple.If life is a song then a song must be sung.What we see and hear are many great songs of French music which were originally sung by famous French singers such as Alain Souchon,Edith Piaf,Jane Birkin etc.It can be surmised that in order to create suspense at the beginning of the film,Resnais even transported us back in past when he showed that Nazis had invaded Paris to destroy French capital.It is a great feeling that nothing like this happened.

An easy to understand film from renowned French Cinéaste Alain Resnais

L'Amour à mort (1984) directed by Alain Resnais

Master cinéaste Alain Resnais likes to work with those actors who are a part of his family.In this film too we see Resnais' family members like Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azema, André Dussolier and Fanny Ardant dealing with serious themes like death,religion,suicide,love and their overall implications on our daily lives.The formal nature of relationship shared by these people is evident as even friends, they address each other using a formal you.In 1984,while making L'amour à mort,Resnais dealt with time,memory and space to unravel the mysteries of a fundamental question of human existence :Is love stronger than death ? It was 16 years ago in 1968 that Resnais made a somewhat similar film Je t'aime Je t'aime which was also about love and memories.Message of this film is loud and clear :true and deep love can even put science to shame as dead lovers regain their lost lives leaving doctors to care for their reputation.L'amour à mort is like a game which is not at all didactic.It is a film in which the musical score is in perfect tandem with its images.This is one of the reasons why this film can easily be grasped.

Franco-American relations will surely get a boost if this film is shown to the concerned people.

I Want to Go Home (1989) directed by Alain Resnais

Before shooting "I want to go home", if Resnais had thought of keeping somebody in mind, it is quite possible that he must have had ruminated about both American and French public. "I want to go home" shows why French fascinate Americans so much. It is a fairly honest portrayal of why French have all the respect for Americans. It is so hard to believe that this comic film was made by Resnais. For the last five decades, he has remained a highly intelligent intellectual cinéaste who has excelled in making difficult films about memories. Watching his films can be likened to a concentrated reading of a "stream of consciousness" oeuvre. Not only will this film charm die-hard francophiles like Paul Auster, Johnny Depp, William Fiedkin, Jim Jarmusch, Hal Hartley and John Malkovich but also fans of comic strips as it is not so often that one comes across a feature film in which there is a happy marriage of cartoons and film. Through this quirky work, Resnais has advocated popular culture as in today's world Mickey Mouse, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Garfield are as relevant/necessary and useful for everybody as Flaubert, Stendhal and Sartre. "I want to go home" is a light film which provides a multiplicity of meanings for its viewers. On an elementary level it explores cultural differences between French and American people. On another level it is also a tale of an amicable reconciliation process which happens between a father meeting his daughter after many years. This emotional turmoil has been shown in a very dignified indeed subtle manner. Although it might seem odd, this film makes it absolutely clear that French have a penchant for admiring those American artists who have been ignominiously rejected/ignored back home in USA. One classical example is Samuel Fuller. He enjoys a bigger, dedicated fan following in France than in United States of America. "I want to go home" is a film which can be understood by all kinds of artists. It speaks of different arts like cinema, comics etc. This is why Resnais has collaborated with great artists like Enki Bilal, Jules Feiffer and John Kander. The highlight of this film is the fact that it shows how all arts are interrelated as well as mutually beneficial. In "I want to go home" the characters alternate between serious mood and comic mood. This is because people can't always remain funny or serious. Resnais makes us all imbibe a logical lesson that in our daily lives we have to react according to the situation in which we find ourselves. Lastly it is high time that it is said that although Americans might abhor French or vice versa, the truth is that both of them cannot live without each other.

An extraordinary film about horrors of war

Hiroshima mon amour (1959) directed by Alain Resnais

Hiroshima Mon Amour is an extraordinary film about time,memory and horrors of war.Resnais has filmed one of the most innovative films in the history of cinema.The actress finds the sensation of her first love and identifies the Japanese architect as the person she loved in the past.Hiroshima Mon Amour was greeted by worldwide appaluse addressed,in particular,to Marguerite Duras who joined forces with Resnais.He asked her to write literature in a way as if she was writing a novel.As she was made to forget the camera,the script consequently had the character of an unending monologue which,at the same time,remained a dialogue with the past.The reality of Hiroshima remains continually marked as it has been shown as a pulsating metropolis where nothing can debilitate people's strength of mind.Sacha Vierny's stark visual images lend credibility to a love affair under difficult circumstances involving two distressed souls.Hiroshima Mon Amour,as a parable of ephemeral passion,will never age with the changing phase of time.