Les Inrocks ROCKS!

Congrats to Filles Sourires, 'cause this blog is in the 50 Best Blogs-list of Les Inrocks (thanks Ron Infirmier, and congrats to you too, for letting me know). Somebody able to either scan the page, or email me what Les Inrock writes about FS?

Project Cinema (11): Romy

"Sissi just sticks to me just like oatmeal", is a famous quote by Romy Schneider. Born Rosemarie Magdelena Albach-Retty in Vienna, she made her acting debut on stage by the side of her mother (like her father an actor too). In 1955 the world fell in love with her, when she played empress-to-be Sissi in the first of three films about the Austrian royal. From that point on, she tried to break away from her saccharine image by taking parts in sombre films like Christine (where she met fiancé Alain Delon), The Process (dir. Orson Welles) and Visconti's Ludwig.
Her life was filled with tragedy: she was dumped by Delon, first husband Henry Meyen committed suicide after the divorce, her son David got into a fatal accident and she got addicted to alcohol in her final years. Officially, she died because of cardiac arrest, but rumour has it she commited suicide. Knowing this, I can only see oceans of schmerz in her eyes.
On a lighter note, she sang as well. In what I think is her best movie, Les Choses De La Vie (although it's been a while since I saw it, or any movie with Schneider in it for that matter), her melancholic, Hardy-like voice is perfect for La Chanson d'Helene, a duet with Michel Piccoli. And for Max & Les Ferrailleurs she sang a short a-capella song in German. Props to composer Philip Sarde too.

Romy Schneider & Michel Piccoli - La Chanson d'Helene
Romy Schneider - Lily et Max

Project Cinema (10): Valerie

Another guest-selection, this time my longtime pal Erwin muses on Valerie Lagrange:

Valerie Lagrange (born Danièle Chadelaud) never played world renowned leading parts in her long lasting cinematic career. Though she appeared in some classic films, notably Fellini’s Satyricon, Godards’ Weekend, Rosine’s Les Idoles and – great acting - Un Homme et une Femme by Claude Lelouch. Lagrange also sang Gainsbourg, stood on the barricades in may 1968, has in short a long and ongoing history of re-inventing herself (thanks to Biolay).

La Folie. This tune first entered my life whilst doing homework on the odd Tuesday afternoon, mid 1980’s; back then to me it seemed to echo the complete state of boredom the world had been in ever since high school began; that quaint Fender Rhodes-motif flashlighting between a slaughtering beat droning from the one brain half to the other, this bleaky funk rhythm guitar lost in a forest of Korg, Roland and Linn Drum…wake up man, this is the eighties! I bought the 7-inch single later on a jumble sale, grey sleeve, grey label – a souvenir of grey days indeed.
She sings coolly about this girl from the city who thinks she has all the answers, life in the fast lane, doing drugs, crazy stuff, you know. Some coked sax playing, mind you. Who’s that girl anyway? The dreary image I had turned into something completely different when I witnessed a group of ‘beautiful’ people living it up one night to this song played in an Italian discotheque, amongst them the topic of La Folie, you know, Alizée in Wonderland. Now it’s not grey anymore, it’s party time!

Valerie Lagrange - La Folie

More Valerie, thanks to Skunkeye:

Valerie Lagrange - La Prière (George Brassens-cover)
Valerie Lagrange - Mon Amour Pour Toi

Project Cinema (9): Anna

An extensive. mouthwatering guest-selection by copain Skunkeye:
Danish transplant Anna Karina is perhaps the ultimate voice and face of the French Nouvelle Vague. Iconographic as the muse and leading actress of Jean-Luc Godard's post-Breathless (À bout de souffle) primordial masterpieces, including Vivre Sa Vie, Pierrot le Fou and Alphaville, the dangerously beautiful and beguiling Karina appeared in various international productions throughout the late 60s and 70s (including the ill-fated George Cukor meets camels extravaganza, Justine – based on my fave Durrell's literary quartet) but somehow wasn't able to capitalize and expand on her talents effectively during the ensuing generations.

Anna Karina has always been my number one babe. Filles Sourires aficionados most likely know her charged Roller Girl and the lovely songs she animated on the legendary Serge Gainsbourg-scored French telepic, Anna. The legendary Karina most recently made a brief cameo, as a rather heated chanteuse during a nightclub scene in Jonathan Demme's New Wave inspired, but ultimately unsuccessful, re-working of the Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn vehicle, Charade, this time called the Truth About Charlie, and inexplicably headlining Marky Mark (but Thandie Newton plays well). The soundtrack rocks, though, and reflects the pervasive multicultural sensibilities of le Moyen Paris.

Back to my babe Anna Karina, here are two tracks from Antoine Duhamel's breathtaking soundtrack to Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le Fou, the poignant and timeless Jamias je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerai toujours (a mon amour) (quel mouthful!) and the rather disposable but charming Mic & Mac.

Philippe Katerine, purveyor of good taste, collaborated with Anna Karina at the turn of the turn of the last century, and the results yielded the torchy and jazz-inflected Une Histoire de L'amour. Madame Anna Karina revisited her signature chanson and turned in some nice duets with her youngish partner in crime. Its worth noting the that the timbre in the icon's voice has dropped dramatically (ala Marianne Faithfull) and that presumed years of hard living have resulted in a poignant delivery.

Supposing life is a cabaret, here is a reflective revisiting of Jamais je ne t'ai dit que..., a rompy duet with Katerine, Aimons L'amour, and a possibly auto-biographical torch-song, Anne Karine.

Anna Karina - Jamais je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerai toujours (a mon amour)
Anna Karina - Mic & Mac
Anna Karina & Katerine - Jamais je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerai toujours (a mon amour)
Anna Karina - Aimons L'Amour
Anna Karina - Anne Karine

Project Cinema (8): Joanna

Guest-selector Skye unearthed two real gems:

She had the looks of a Francoise Hardy with sex: Canadian born actress Joanna Shimkus, who appeared in only two handful of movies (after those, Sidney Poitier married her right from the spot). Robert Enrico’s classic Les Aventuriers (1967) made her immortal: a melancholy ménage a trois with her torn between Delon and Lino Ventura, the finest romantic triangle movie of them all, miles above and lots more fun than Truffaut’s Jules et Jim. The soundtrack is by composer wizard Francois de Roubaix, kind of a French Morricone of the 60s who scored most gallic noir movies of the time, an artist of pure genius who drowned near Tenerife in 1975. Joanna’s probably only recorded song is a tune from Les Aventuriers, but not in the (strictly instrumental scored) movie – a wonderfully laid-back campfire version, simply irresistible.

Joanna Shimkus - Les Aventuriers
UPDATE: apparently, Joanna sang in more films. From another François de Roubaix compilation, here's a song from the movie Tante Zita:

Joanna Shimkus - Loin

Another fine example of Roubaix’s skills is a rarely known collaboration with La Bardot, undoubtedly one of her most extraordinaire achievements. Both songs are from Francois de Roubaix, Anthologie Vol. 2 (Play Time Records, Paris, 2000).

Brigitte Bardot - Ecoute les Tempes

Project Cinema (7): Emmanuelle

Natasja Vermeer is her name, the latest actress to appear in the role of the infamous Emmanuelle. Just as Sylvia Kristel, mother to all Emmanuelle's, Natasja is Dutch, and just as Sylvia Kristel, she sings. Kristel appeared on a Blue Note-album (no less) made by dj Eddy de Clercq (the one who introduced Holland to house-music), Natasja sang on a Emmanuelle-themed lounge-compilation by Claude Challe.
Emmanuelle must be one of the most profitable sex franchises out there, Serge Gainsbourg contributed a soundtrack (as you know he would). Even George Lazenby (one-time James Bond) appeared in one. Lots of actresses played the role of Emmanuelle, but Kristel's the most famous - I remember vividly seeing the first Emmanuelle-movie on Dutch national tv when I was a teenager, blocking the crack under the door so my parents couldn't see I was watching tv at night. Ah, nostalgia.

Natasja Vermeer - Emmanuelle
Serge Gainsbourg - Goodbye Emmanuelle

Speaking of Dutch women who made a name for themselves via sex; let's not forget happy hooker Xaviera Hollander. Yes, she appeared in movies and she made a couple of albums. Here her butcher the Beatles (and singing in French):

Xaviera Hollander - Michelle

Project Cinema (6): Sheila

(this is a restored post)

More on Sheila and François Ozon from guest-selector Sir Edward (Maks, you paying attention?):

Sheila is one of France music’s industry brightest diamonds, who sold the most records between 1960-2000, bar Johnny Halliday. In 1963, aged 16, she entered the heart of France with L’école est finie, 1966 saw L’heure de la sortie, 1967 saw Sheila acting in her first movie Bang Bang, performing an achingly beatiful violin-driven version of the Sonny Bonno-written
song Bang Bang’(My Baby Shot me down), most famous in Nancy Sinatra’s rendition.

When, in his movie 8 Femmes, Ozon made Ludivine Seigner do a version of Sheila’s song Papa, t’es plus dans le coup, he maybe was returning the favour for using Sheila’s version of Bang Bang to this courting-scene of his acclaimed 1996 shortfilm Une Robe d’été. A film about two gay lovers, one is seduced by a girl, she gives him her dress as a remembrance, and the other one is turned on by his boyfriend in the dress.

Nevertheless, something very suitable to illustrate Sheila’s presumed status as an icon of gay France, aswell as her triumph trough the 70’ies disco-age, having a killer success with Spacer alongside producers Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (Chic) and the (not so cool) Black Devotion-band, a song which recently got ripped off for the infamous Cryin’ at the discotheque by Swedish Alcazar. Just as Bang Bang got treated by British Audio Bullys. If ever a fatwa is due.



Sheila - Bang Bang
Sheila & Black Devotion - Spacer