Same Old Song (French: On connaît la chanson) is a 1997 French comedy-drama film. It was directed by Alain Resnais, and written by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri. Jaoui and Bacri also starred in the film with Sabine Azéma, Lambert Wilson, André Dussollier and Pierre Arditi.
Contents
Plot
Odile (Azéma), a business executive, is married to weak, furtive Claude (Arditi). In the past Odile was close to successful businessman Nicolas (Bacri), now married with kids and returning to Paris after an eight-year absence. She is looking for a new, bigger apartment from estate agent Marc (Wilson). Her younger sister Camille (Jaoui), has just completed her doctoral thesis in history and is a Paris tour guide. Simon (Dussollier) is a regular on Camille's tours because he's attracted to her, although he claims to be researching his historical radio dramas. Camille has fallen for Marc, and they begin an affair. Nicolas is also looking for an apartment, since he hopes to eventually have his family join him in Paris.
The most original feature of this "musical" is that characters break into songs as sung by the original artists, i.e. depending on the circumstances, a female character may all of a sudden start singing in a male voice and vice versa. The film's debt to Dennis Potter is acknowledged with a dedication in the opening credits.
Cast
Pierre Arditi as Claude Lalande
Sabine Azéma as Odile Lalande, Claude's wife
Jean-Pierre Bacri as Nicolas
André Dussollier as Simon
Agnès Jaoui as Camille, Odile's younger sister
Lambert Wilson as Marc Duveyrier, Simon's boss
Jane Birkin as Jane, the wife of Nicolas
Françoise Bertin as Little Lady on Tour
Jean-Paul Roussillon as the father of Odile and Camille
Jean-Pierre Darroussin as the man with the cheque
Claire Nadeau and Frédérique Cantrel as Female Guest
Songs
Production
Filming began on 6 January 1997.
Accolades
The film won the César Award for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation, Best Editing and Best Sound in 1998. It won the Louis Delluc Prize in 1997. At the 48th Berlin International Film Festival in 1998, Resnais won the Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution.
Box office
The film opened in France the same week as Alien Resurrection, opening on 158 screens and grossing 30.3 million French Francs ($5.3 million) for the week, compared to 38.9 million French Francs for Alien Resurrection from 507 screens, and finishing in second place at the French box office. It went on to gross $39 million.