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Love Songs

Play trailer Poster for Love Songs Released Mar 21, 2008 1h 35m Musical Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
61% Tomatometer 57 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
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.
Love Songs

What to Know

Critics Consensus

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

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Critics Reviews

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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

Audience Reviews

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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 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 Audience Member Sympathique, triste, romantique, melancholique avec Paris en arriere plan, ce film est une belle suprise. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Love Songs

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

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
Producer
Paulo Branco
Screenwriter
Christophe Honoré
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Alma Films
Genre
Musical, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 21, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 13, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$104.0K
Runtime
1h 35m