Love Songs

Released Mar 21, 2008

1h 35m

Musical

Romance

LGBTQ+

List

61%

57 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Ismael (Louis Garrel) and Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) lead a blissfully romantic existence in Paris and are as likely to sing their thoughts as speak them. They meet a variety of equally passionate young people as they wander through the dream-like city, and they invite Alice (Clotilde Hesme) into their lives and into their bed. The delicate balance of their idyllic world is threatened when death intrudes unexpectedly, challenging them to keep love alive through loss and mourning.

Read More

Read Less

Critics Consensus

Love Songs is hampered by a lack of focus, but held together by Honore's deft direction and an engaging cast.

Read Critics Reviews

Jay Weissberg

Variety

Conceived by Honore as a tribute to a dead friend, the helmer is perhaps too close to his subject, never quite able to bring himself to linger on the grief that should be at pic's core.

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Times (UK)

It's a story which Honor describes as personal, so we must assume that there is some truth at least in the premise. But the decision to set the story to music undermines the emotional honesty that the piece might otherwise have had.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

This inexpressibly tender and lovely picture suggests that [Honor's] developing into a major talent, one who can make the spirit of classic French movies come alive in a new world.

Jul 9, 2008

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

Offers a feast for the mind and the heart, overwhelming the senses and transporting us into its delicately constructed rhythms.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 6, 2019

Full Review

Kaleem Aftab

The List

Despite a fine pedigree, this film never quite reaches the needed crescendo, and unlike Demy's classic it doesn't leave you crying out for an encore. Still worth a look though.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 3, 2018

Full Review

Dave McDougall

MUBI

With both of these in mind, I do see Love Songs as a worthwhile offering in a mostly forgotten genre for which I hold deep affection.

Dec 13, 2017

Full Review

Read all reviews

Ilaria M

I would have preferred more sensuality and less songs.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/05/24

Full Review

Audience Member

One of my personal favorite movie. It is just a mood for 1h and a half, that makes you question the essence of relationship, life and family. Deeper than it seems, some as the characters such as the mother or Clothilde the little sister are very interesting to watch. Paris is also in the center of the movie, but not a polished version of the city of light - a true paint that you'll understand if you had the luck to be live in Paris.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ok, so this is another Louis Garrel film where he finds himself in a ménage a trois, nothing new for a fan of his work, like me. I expected a lot from this film, it was a musical, it had a threesome and it had a gay plot twist. It should've been my favorite film at least for a decade. But this movie has a lot that I simply cannot let go. Ismael's girlfriend has one of the dumbest deaths I've ever seen on a film, like for real. Besides his ménage a trois wasn't a real one, cause it seemed to me that Alice was constantly fighting with Ismael for Jules' attention. The only time I really thought they could work out somehow as a couple was when they were singing "Il faut se taire" which was like three minutes I think. So one thing leads to the other and Voilá!, this random guy that is madly in love with Ismael keeps waiting for him after work and even though he has clearly said to him to stop doing that, they always end up having sex, that same day, yeah... that same exact day where this guy was rejected by Ismael. I say this guy because I don't remember his name and believe you don't have to remember it either cause the film doesn't show anything important about this guy other than he is love with Ismael. Like for real, he has zero personality. Ok, so at the end and after battling with his sexuality for just one day, Ismael ends up singing a song with the random guy that apparently should be a sign of closure enough to make us believe that he has finally gotten over his dead girlfriend and that he is happily gay now. At the end, I still have the sensation that Ismael is only with him out of pity or because he really needed a rebound, which should make me feel bad about the random guy but again his only goal in the movie was being with Ismael, like literally we see that he goes to college and all of that but we don't even know what is his career, his only purpose in the film is being in love with Ismael and chasing him around everywhere, which was pretty creepy but he kept doing it and it wasn't romantic at all, it was just kind of rude. But well anyway, the soundtrack is pretty dope though

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The songs are mostly nice (when the lyrics are not so irritatingly pretentious), but the film seems to wander around without a clear sense of purpose, conviction and focus, while also being way too bleak and downbeat for its own good with its blueish, monotonous visuals.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Veers from romantic to sad to morbid, but still beautiful and obviously a tribute to Demy.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie captures the essence of Paris with a so realistic grey photography of the winter season, a convicing cast, a surprising story and love songs.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Christophe Honoré

Director

Louis Garrel

Ismaël

Ludivine Sagnier

Julie

Chiara Mastroianni

Jeanne

Clotilde Hesme

Alice

Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet

Erwann

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

70%

67%

Leave It on the Floor

53%

82%

Across the Universe

47%

83%

Rent

39%

37%

Nine

37%

69%

Anything but Love

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Edinburgh 2008: What to Watch

Critics Consensus: Drillbit Taylor Flunks; Guess Shutter‘s and Meet the Browns‘ Tomatometer!

Cannes Wrap-Up: Michael Moore’s Latest And Leo’s Global Warming Doc

View more photos

Synopsis

Ismael (Louis Garrel) and Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) lead a blissfully romantic existence in Paris and are as likely to sing their thoughts as speak them. They meet a variety of equally passionate young people as they wander through the dream-like city, and they invite Alice (Clotilde Hesme) into their lives and into their bed. The delicate balance of their idyllic world is threatened when death intrudes unexpectedly, challenging them to keep love alive through loss and mourning.

Director: Christophe Honoré
Screenwriter: Christophe Honoré
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Alma Films
Genre: Musical, Romance, LGBTQ+
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 21, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 13, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $104.0K
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Dolby

Most Popular at Home Now