Mélo
Encyclopedia
Mélo is a 1929 play by Henri Bernstein
.
It was first filmed in 1932 by Paul Czinner
.
The better-known 1986 French film based on the play was directed by Alain Resnais
, and starred Fanny Ardant
, André Dussollier
, Sabine Azéma
and Pierre Arditi
. It won the César Award for Best Actress
and Best Supporting Actor
, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.
ists and lifelong friends living in Paris
in the 1920s. While Marcel has become famous and Pierre has not, both are happy with their lives. Pierre is happily married to Romaine, a stylish young flapper
. However, Marcel meets and falls in love with her, which Marcel little suspects. Romaine carries on her affair with Marcel, even as Pierre falls ill, which she may have deliberately exacerbated with her treatment in order to murder
him. Soon Marcel goes on a concert tour, and Romaine abandons Pierre for a romantic tryst. When Marcel returns, Romaine reconsiders the affair, and realizes that she loves both Pierre and Marcel. She decides that she does not want to hurt either her husband or her lover, and as no other solution seems possible, she commits suicide
. Three years later, Pierre visits Marcel to seek the truth, and Marcel tells him that no illicit affair occurred, thereby honoring her memory.
Henri Bernstein
Henri-Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein was a French playwright associated with Boulevard theatre.The far-right royalist Camelots du Roi youth organization of the Action française organized an anti-Semitic riot against a production of one of his plays in 1911...
.
It was first filmed in 1932 by Paul Czinner
Paul Czinner
Paul Czinner was a writer, film director, and producer.Czinner was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary. After studying literature and philosophy at the University of Vienna, he worked as a journalist. From 1919 onward, he dedicated himself to work for the filming industry as writer, director and...
.
The better-known 1986 French film based on the play was directed by Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
, and starred Fanny Ardant
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant is a French actress. She has appeared in more than fifty motion pictures since 1976. Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in Pédale douce.-Early life:...
, André Dussollier
André Dussollier
André Dussollier is a French actor.-Filmography:* 1970 : Ils, directed by Jean-Daniel Simon* 1972 : Les Chemins de pierre, directed by Joseph Drimal...
, Sabine Azéma
Sabine Azéma
Sabine Azéma is a French actress. Born in Paris, she graduated from the Paris Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, and began her film career in 1975...
and Pierre Arditi
Pierre Arditi
Pierre Arditi was born on 1 December 1944 in Paris, child of the French paintor Georges Arditi , from Marseille, and a Belgian mother. He is an award-winning French film and stage actor...
. It won the César Award for Best Actress
César Award for Best Actress
List of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actress .-Winners and nominees:...
and Best Supporting Actor
César Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
List of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Supporting Actor .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...
, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.
Plot
Pierre Belcroix and Marcel Blanc are violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ists and lifelong friends living in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in the 1920s. While Marcel has become famous and Pierre has not, both are happy with their lives. Pierre is happily married to Romaine, a stylish young flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
. However, Marcel meets and falls in love with her, which Marcel little suspects. Romaine carries on her affair with Marcel, even as Pierre falls ill, which she may have deliberately exacerbated with her treatment in order to murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
him. Soon Marcel goes on a concert tour, and Romaine abandons Pierre for a romantic tryst. When Marcel returns, Romaine reconsiders the affair, and realizes that she loves both Pierre and Marcel. She decides that she does not want to hurt either her husband or her lover, and as no other solution seems possible, she commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Three years later, Pierre visits Marcel to seek the truth, and Marcel tells him that no illicit affair occurred, thereby honoring her memory.
Cast (1986 film)
- Sabine Azéma - Romaine Belcroix
- Fanny Ardant - Christiane Levesque
- Pierre Arditi - Pierre Belcroix
- André Dussollier - Marcel Blanc
- Jacques Dacqmine - Dr. Remy
- Hubert Gignoux - Le Prêtre
- Catherine Arditi - Yvonne