A Merchant Ivory Films Release

in association with

Artistic License Films

presents

On Connait La Chanson

(Same Old Song)

A Film by Alain Resnais

1998/35mm/color/1:85/Dolby SRD/120min.

Distribution Contact:

Artistic License Films

250 West 57th Street, Suite 606

New York, NY 10107

212.265.9124   Fax 212.262.9299

Publicity Contact:

Samantha Dean & Associates, INC.

36 West 44th Street

Suite 1401

New York NY 10036

212.391.2675  Fax 212.391.4913

SYNOPSIS

Simon is secretly in love with Camille.  Following a misunderstanding, Camille falls in love with Marc.  Marc, a charming estate agent and Simon's boss, is trying to sell an apartment to Odile, Camille's sister.  Odile is determined to buy the apartment, despite the silent disapproval of her husband, Claude.  Claude, an apparently insignificant man, looks unfavorably on the reappearance of Nicolas after many long years.  Nicolas, Odile's old friend, becomes Simon's confidant...

Selected Press Quotes

"ON CONNAIT LA CHANSON is a very special film, exciting, intelligent, moving, funny, superb, unique... And a complete success."

Libération, France

"Alain Resnais has never been this young and this free.  Like an American comedy from the Golden days of Hollywood...  ON CONNAIT LA CHANSON is a pure delight."

Les Inrockuptibles, France

"A delightful romantic comedy... lively, funny, and moving!"

Le Monde, France

"A film that you will always cherish!  A film that will definitely make you happy!"

Le Nouveau Quotidien, Switzerland

"Audacious, delightful and just about perfect from first note to last, Alain Resnais' SAME OLD SONG presents a familiar tune in a clever new arrangement... Result is a bittersweet delight that cements the 75 year-old Resnais' status as one of international cinema's most playful and innovative elder statesmen."

Variety, U.S.A.

CREDITS

Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alain Resnais

Screenplay & Dialogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Agnès Jaoui

                                                                                                                             Jean-Pierre Bacri

Music & Arrangements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruno Fontaine

Executive Producer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bruno Pesery

Associate Producers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michel Seydoux

                                                                                                                          Ruth Waldburger

First Assistant Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thierry Verrier

Second Assistant Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Camille Lipmann

Script Supervisor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sylvette Baudrot

Line Producer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Catherine Chouridis

Production Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Didier Carrel

Director of Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Renato Berta

First Assistant Cameraman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jean-Paul Toraille

Set Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacques Saulnier

Decorator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Philippe Turlure

Chief Sound Engineer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pierre Lenoir

First Sound Assistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Didier Carquin

Sound Mix Engineer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jean-Pierre Laforce

Chief Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hervé De Luze

Assistant Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christophe Pinel

Background Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michel Klochendler

Costume Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jackie Budin

Wardrobe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anne Dunsford-Varenne

Make-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jackie Reynal

Hair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Nellen

Illustrations for Titles and Press Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Floch

CAST

Claude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pierre Arditi

Odile Lalande. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sabine Azéma

Nicolas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jean-Pierre Bacri

Simon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .André Dussollier

Camille Lalande. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Agnès Jaoui

Marc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lambert Wilson

Jane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Birkin

Father. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jean-Paul Roussillon

Doctor#3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nelly Borgeaud

Von Choltitz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gotz Burger

Young man with check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jean-Pierre Darroussin

Restaurant customer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charlotte Kady

Doctor#1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jacques Mauclair

Café owner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pierre Meyrand

Female guest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Claire Nadeau

Elderly man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dominique Rozan

Young fired man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jean-Chretien Sibertin Blanc

Doctor#2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonnafet Tarboureich

Restaurant waiter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wilfred Benaiche

Little lady (on tour). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Francoise Bertin

Guest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Bouvier

Female guest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Frédérique Cantrel

Guest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerome Chappatte

Nurse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Romaine De Nando

Female guest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nathalie Jeannet

Young woman kissing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delphine Quentin

Marc's colleague. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geoffroy Thiebaut

A Conversation with Alain Resnais

How did Same Old Song come about?

Alain Resnais:  After Smoking and No Smoking, Bruno Pesery asked me to film an opera written for the big screen.  It probably would have been easy to finance the project in English but I felt that my knowledge of the language was insufficient for such an undertaking.  I therefore looked for an alternative.  During the work on the adaptation of Intimate Exchanges, the series of plays by Alan Ayckbourn that led to Smoking and No Smoking, I had become close friends with Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri.  I admired the musicality of their dialogue and their performances on stage and screen.  I therefore asked them if they would be interested writing a screenplay.  They replied that they would but, having not appeared in our two "twin films," they didn't want to write for other actors than themselves.  This suited me perfectly.  We then spent three or four afternoons talking about characters, outlines, what we wanted or didn't want to do on film.  We ferreted through my subject box.  I think I even gave the "Jaoui-Bacris" a totally outrageous half-hour improvisation, a little like automatic writing, that I had recorded on audio tape.  The theme of the outer appearances that we wear throughout our lives rose to the surface along with other elements, like a guide and her visits and the psychology of the hermit crab.  Then, as I am a great admirer of the English writer, Dennis Potter, I showed them extracts from his TV films.  In some of them, the characters regularly lip-synch to popular songs.  And gradually, the outline of the film came into shape.  The challenge was the following: how not to copy Potter, given my passion for his work?  We therefore decided to use French songs rooted in an everyday climate, excluding any notion of fantasy.  The songs, with two or three exceptions, don't describe the characters' imaginary world either.  Nicole Vedres, with whom I worked as an assistant in 1947 on Paris Mil Neuf Cent, told me one day that the novel, in its descriptions of love and its melodies, could never match so-called popular or music-hall songs.  And I've often noticed that popular songs accompany the acts of our everyday lives.  If we behaved at all naturally, we'd use song lyrics in conversation.

In you mind and that of the writers, does the choice of song extracts for the action provide a sort of anthology of French song?

Alain Resnais:  No, definitely not.  We didn't aim to have a balanced mix, either on a chronological level or according to the number of songs by a single performer.  The songs that we used are those that came to us naturally, through an association of ideas.  Most of the extracts are very short, sometimes cut in the middle, corresponding to the way our minds work (we rarely remember a whole chorus and even more rarely a verse).  But other extracts are longer.  We didn't set ourselves strict limits.

The members of the audience will probably react differently according to whether they know the songs or not.

Alain Resnais:  We wanted a large number of hits (in particular, so that the audience wouldn't think that the songs had been written for the film) but you can sense a hit even if you've never heard it before.  I knew nothing of some of the songs suggested by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri but if I felt that they were hits when listening to them, I'd immediately endorse them.

Your love of musicals is well known and yet it is hard to find an illusion to the genre in Same Old Song.

Alain Resnais:  I was particularly determined not to stray into that area.  A musical almost always contains dancing or at least movements and gestures by actors to evoke dancing.  Once again, we were aiming for a more everyday style.  We wanted the songs to enter the scenes without any warning.  If the audience, even only once or twice, could forget that it was hearing a song and think that the words were dialogue, then we would be happy.

                                                                                                            Interview by François Thomas

A Conversation with Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri

How did you work?

Agnès Jaoui:  In the same way as on Smoking.  We'd record the scenes on audio tape, playing all the parts.  Alain would then listen and leave his remarks on our answering machine.  We started meeting after completing the first draft.

Did you know that there would be songs in the film?

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  That was the basic idea.

Agnès Jaoui:  Alain wanted to pay tribute to the films by Dennis Potter (The Singing Detective, Pennies from Heaven, and Lipstick on Your Collar...) that he had shown us.  And I had much the same feeling as when he first talked to us about Smoking.  I thought: "This is original, it's Resnais, I want to do it."  He would say: "I don't know if this is going to work but I really want to try."  He's very creative, like a painter who doesn't just want to paint a pretty picture but also invent something.

Did you think of the songs as you were writing or did you start by writing a "traditional" screenplay?

Agnès Jaoui:  In a couple of cases, a song gave us the idea for a scene but, usually, the situations suggested the songs to us.  From that point of view, it's a "traditional" screenplay, not an excuse to use songs.

How did you go about choosing the songs?

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  Above all we wanted well-known songs with melodies that most people could identify, popular tunes.

Agnès Jaoui:  A popular tune is something that is universal that reaches the collective subconscious and the culture of a generation or a country.  At the same time, for each one of us, it can evoke a moment or an event in our lives.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  But we had set ourselves other criteria.  The lyrics of the songs had to correspond to the dialogue and above all not be a superfluous addition or a commentary on the writing.  If we had taken the songs out, we'd have needed to replace them with dialogue.

Did you choose all the songs?

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  No.  Alain chose a few.

How did you fit in with the "Resnais family?"

Agnès Jaoui:  Very easily.  Alain treats people very equitably.  Once he has chosen them, he loves them and shows it.

How does he approach the work of direction?

Agnès Jaoui:  Before shooting, he organizes individual work sessions with each actor at his home during which a very precise agreement is reached on the psychology of the character and the situations.  And once we're on the set, he allows the actor total freedom.  He may intervene concerning a matter of rhythm or to say: "I'm very pleased with that but if you want to put a little more irrationality into it, go ahead."  You feel very comfortable with him.

I suppose the song passages required the most rehearsal.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  Yes.  We would learn the songs at home and when we arrived in the morning, we would work hard on the synchronization with the sound engineer.

Was the song played on the set as you were acting?

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  Yes.  In the middle of the dialogue, there was a "buzz" all of a sudden and the song would start up.

It's rare to see song so intimately blended with dialogue.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  I'm not a big fan of musicals and that was one of our major concerns from the word go.  The sung passages had to be firmly in context, on an equal footing with the plot and the emotions.  The songs aren't complete.  You here three lines here, three lines there.  And that had never been done before.

Agnès Jaoui:  Yes, we used like proverbs.  "Every cloud has a silver lining," "Always look on the bright side of life"... old ideas and commonplace notions that sum up the emotion and, at the same time, reduce it.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  In this way, the songs have a direct link to the theme of appearances because the medium of song is both universal and imprecise or approximate.  True, people use it to communicate and form bonds, but this is also a mask and it's not an ambitious and personal way of communicating.  If someone is sad, you say "Every cloud has a silver lining," and he understands what that means.  And, at the same time, you don't really reveal your own personality.  They are merely a semblance of contacts and relationships.  In the film, the family photo shown by my character (Nicolas) that looks like an ad for breakfast cereal is an image of success.  The ad for breakfast cereal is a photographic song: "I show you a certain idea of happiness and you think I'm happy."

Agnès Jaoui:  We also aimed to talk about happiness and the difficulty of being happy, of what happiness means.  For me, one of the reasons why people feel unhappy is because they compare themselves to others.  We are bombarded with images of young, healthy people with a happy family... and we continually compare ourselves to this image of happiness.  If you're over twenty-five, if you're a bit fatter, a bit thinner, a bit taller, a bit more single, a bit more childless, etc.... not only do you feel unhappy, but you also feel lonely, excluded and abnormal.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  In the film, the theme of appearances is balanced out by the thesis.  This is a successful relationship.  It's taken to its complete and logical conclusion.  in this case, on the yeomen of Paladru Lake in the year 1000.  You do 800 pages to deal with the issue fully, and you end up within something thick, solid, expansive - the ideal way of boring other people silly.  We need brief and simplistic signs, as in advertising or these songs that don't mean anything but that we identify with.  They talk to everyone, providing a sort of secret for success encapsulated in three words.

Agnès Jaoui:  And, at the same time, the consumer society, like popular music, is reassuring.  We're not saying that it shouldn't exist.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  Not at all.  One of the common themes in Cuisine et Dépendances, Un Air de Famille and Same Old Song is the idea that you can go beyond those appearances and get to the heart of things, despite the dangers of conflict, even with yourself, and the risk of seeing yourself as you really are.  Too bad if it's even further from that particular ad and the songs.  You discover yourself.  That's the main thing.  Discovering yourself.

Agnès Jaoui:  Odile (Sabine Azéma) is the character who maintains this need to put on a front the most stubbornly.  She is always on top of the world and doesn't understand other people's suffering because she refuses to accept her own.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  For her, as for many people, admitting one's weaknesses is tantamount to failure.  It's a defeat.

In the film, Camille (Agnès Jaoui) has a nervous breakdown just when everything is going well for her.  She is in love, she has just obtained her doctorate...  Do you think that often happens?

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  When you spend years - as someone working on a thesis does - devoting all your energy to a specific goal, once you reach that goal, you end up in a void.

Agnès Jaoui:  You say: "So what, I've obtained my doctorate - or whatever - and nothing has changed.  I'm not different, better, more beautiful, I'm just myself.  I could die tomorrow.  What use is it all?"  And in general that happens when you're twenty-five or thirty.  Becoming an adult, marks the end of a certain dream, a certain projection into the future, and you have to face the present and the absurdity of this life...  You are.  that's all.

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  You pursue a goal to avoid the angst of living.

Agnès Jaoui:  But the angst is always there...

Jean-Pierre Bacri:  ... Yes, but the goal has a sort of smoke-screen hiding it.  And as soon as you reach it, the angst reappears.  So you quickly put the screen back up.  That's why we're going to start writing again as soon as possible.       

                                                                                                                                Interview by Catherine Wimphen

Alain Resnais Filmography

Direction:

1948    Van Gogh

1950            Guernica

            Co-directed with Robert Hessens

1953    Les Statues Meurent Aussi

            Co-directed with Chris Marker

1955    Nuit et Brouillard

1956    Toute la Memoire du Monde

1958    Le Chant du Styrene

1959            Hiroshima, Mon Amour

1961            L'Année Derniere a Marienbad

            (Last Year in Marienbad)

1963    Muriel Ou le Temps D'Un Retour

            Muriel

1966    La Guerre est Finie

            (The War is Over)

1967    Loin du Viet-Nam

            (Far From Vietnam)

1968    Je t'aime, Je t'aime

1974            Stavisky...

1976            Providence

1980    Mon Oncle D'Amerique

            (My American Uncle)

1983    La Vie est un Roman

            (Life is a Bed of Roses)

1984            L'Amour a Mort

1986    Melo

1989    I Want to go Home

1991            Gershwin (Encyclopedia Universalis)

1993            Smoking and No Smoking

            based on Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn

1997    On Connait la Chanson