Review of Quand j'étais chanteur

We watched this lovely film on TV last night and both of us enjoyed it tremendously. I judge films by how memorable they are; even good films that are appreciated at the time disappear in my, admittedly, porous memory but this film for some reason cemented itself in my memory immediately. I admit that I enjoy films about male/female relations or the lack thereof if that is the case; the French are the planet's masters of this examination of the human condition and they do it very well. The Singer is an examination of that most sensitive of times in relationships: the period of discovery, before people understand what is happening to them, whether there is enough glue to hold this tentative relationship together. I thought that the director knew exactly what he wanted his actors to do and their professionalism allowed them to play these most sensitive of roles so well.

As you can imagine there are no huge points of realization or transcendence in this beautifully played out examination: nothing that we have been led to expect from Hollywood, just quiet, introspective searching and waiting to see if the puzzle pieces fall into place as the singer hopes they will. As you can see, the movie is an examination of these two people very tentatively feeling each other out to see if they have a future. The viewer's joy is watching this endearing and gentle examination. I found the movie a tremendous viewing experience but very tentative, very gentle and very knowing.