Same Old Song

While venerable French director Alain Resnais' musical comedy won seven Cesar Awards--the French equivalent of the Academy Award--something seems to have gotten lost in the translation. More accessible and less impenetrable than his 1960s art house classics Last Year at Marienbad and Hiroshima, Mon Amour, the story follows the romantic travails of six intertwined characters, few of them very likeable or sympathetic. Resnais dedicates the film to Dennis Potter, and accordingly, the characters periodically and suddenly lip-sync to pre-recorded songs that express their feelings. Unfortunately, this device that Potter used so brilliantly is lost on the French-impaired--we may recognize the voices of Edith Piaf or Maurice Chevalier, but the unfamiliar tunes have no resonance to American ears. If you really want to pay tribute to Potter, watch his landmark British miniseries The Singing Detective or Pennies From Heaven instead. Not recommended. (K. Lee Benson)[DVD Review—Nov. 25, 2008—New Yorker, 120 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1997's Same Old Song features a good transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. DVD extras are limited to trailers. Bottom line: a disappointing extras package for a disappointing film.]