Not on the Lips
Encyclopedia
Not on the Lips is a 2003 French musical film directed by Alain Resnais
. It is an adaptation of the operetta
Pas sur la bouche, written by André Barde
and Maurice Yvain, which was first produced in Paris in 1925.
) is the socialite wife of rich Parisian businessman Georges Valandray (Pierre Arditi
) from whom she has concealed a previous but unvalidated marriage in America, being aware of her husband's belief in the indissolubility of a relationship based on a first sexual experience. Only her spinster sister Arlette (Isabelle Nanty
) knows the secret. Secure in her husband's confidence in her, Gilberte now encourages a circle of amorous admirers, as flirts but nothing more, including Faradel (Daniel Prévost
), a middle-aged dilettante, and Charley (Jalil Lespert
), a young avant-garde artist who is also pursued by Gilberte's young friend Huguette (Audrey Tautou
). Gilberte is then aghast to discover that her husband has invited to dinner an American, Eric Thomson (Lambert Wilson
), with whom he is about to sign a deal, and who is none other than her first husband. With embarrassment Gilberte appeals to the truculent Eric to preserve her secret.
Act 2. Ten days later, at a soirée at the Valandrays' house, preparations are in hand for a performance of Charley's new play "Âmes primitives", set in Mexico. Eric is considering whether to renew his marital claims upon Gilberte, who seeks to deter him by demonstrating that Charley is her lover. Faradel offers the use of his bachelor flat to Charley who invites Huguette there - and Gilberte. Meanwhile Eric, who is about to take over the lease of the same flat himself, gives the address to Georges.
Act 3. The following afternoon, all the characters arrive under different pretexts at Faradel's bachelor flat, to the bemusement of the concierge Madame Foin (Darry Cowl
). Just as Georges thinks he has discovered his wife's secret, Arlette declares that it was she who was Eric's first wife and now they are reconciled - and Eric upholds the lie, delightedly overcoming his longstanding horror of being kissed on the lips. Meanwhile Charley has been happily seduced by Huguette, and Georges and Gilberte are restored to peace of mind.
's 1925 (silent) adaptation of Lady Windermere's Fan
among his cast to intimate the tone of the film that he wanted.
The entire film was shot in a studio (in Arpajon). Jacques Saulnier, another of Resnais's longtime collaborators, provided elegant and sumptuous set designs, which together with the glamorous costumes designed by Jackie Budin complement the theatrical style of the acting, and frequent use of long camera shots enable a fluid staging of the musical numbers. Various cinematic devices are used both to intensify the characterizations (especially with close-ups and direct-to-camera asides), but also to distance the film spectator from the theatrical experience (e.g. dissolves to achieve characters' exits, overhead camera shots for some of the ensemble numbers).
A set of four trailers
for the film was made, in which André Dussollier
, another regular actor for Resnais, complains that he has been passed over for various roles in this film; these were directed by Bruno Podalydès.
A very different reaction was expressed when the film appeared in Great Britain, where the apparent frivolity of an old-fashioned musical comedy presented by a director previously known for intellectual seriousness caused indignation and incomprehension. "An inert, sclerotic piece of nonsense with unendurably mannered performances", "a flavourless adaptation... banal lyrics... philistine jokes about the arts...", "laboriously frothy", and "excruciatingly embarrassing" were among the typical responses of British reviewers. Elsewhere however it was pointed out that over the previous 20 years Resnais had repeatedly demonstrated his cinematic engagement with various forms of popular culture (the strip-cartoon in I Want to Go Home
, boulevard theatre in Mélo
, the popular song in On connaît la chanson
), and that here again he was doing same for Parisian operetta with genuine affection, and without adopting "the posture of a high-art auteur bending down to, or 'reworking', a popular genre". Referring to the use of anachronistic devices, the same reviewer noted that "part of the attraction is also in [the film's] distanced nature - the modernist director has not entirely disappeared"..
In the USA, the film did not achieve a commercial release, and apart from a few restricted theatrical screenings it only became generally available when it was issued on DVD (2005). It did however attract a few appreciative reviews. One indirectly addressed the charge that the film was outdated: "Alain Resnais's dazzling madcap musical ... makes the grim preoccupations of a younger generation appear rather conventional".. Another reinforced the point that the film was "a buoyantly entertaining example of everything old made new again. ...It's glamorous, funny, suspenseful, anchored in human nature and profoundly silly all at once".. One of the strongest defences of the film was made by Jonathan Rosenbaum
, who concluded with the following description: "an elegant, funny, creepy, soulful, and formally exquisite period operetta that demonstrates a keen sense of how suffocating polite society can be and how persistent desire is in spite of it. In short, the key themes of the Surrealist movement".
awards, including best film and best director; it won three of them (for best sound, best costumes, and best supporting actor, Darry Cowl).
The film also won the Prix Lumière (2004) for best film (awarded by the international press in Paris).
Alain Resnais won the Étoile d'or (2004) for best director (awarded by the Academy of French film journalists).
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...
. It is an adaptation of the operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
Pas sur la bouche, written by André Barde
André Barde
André Barde was the pseudonym of André Bourdonneau , a French writer best known for his librettos for operettas. He was active from 1899-1936. He frequently collaborated with Charles Cuvillier - Son petit frère , Afgar , La Reine joyeuse , Florabella , and Nonnette being some examples...
and Maurice Yvain, which was first produced in Paris in 1925.
Plot
Act 1. Gilberte Valandray (Sabine AzémaSabine 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...
) is the socialite wife of rich Parisian businessman Georges Valandray (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...
) from whom she has concealed a previous but unvalidated marriage in America, being aware of her husband's belief in the indissolubility of a relationship based on a first sexual experience. Only her spinster sister Arlette (Isabelle Nanty
Isabelle Nanty
Isabelle Nanty is a French actress and film director.see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0353243/. She played the part of Georgette in the 2001 French film Amélie and Isabelle in La Belle Histoire...
) knows the secret. Secure in her husband's confidence in her, Gilberte now encourages a circle of amorous admirers, as flirts but nothing more, including Faradel (Daniel Prévost
Daniel Prévost
Daniel Prévost is a French actor and humorist.Daniel Prevost is notably known for his part in the French television series Le Petit Rapporteur.-Early life and Family:...
), a middle-aged dilettante, and Charley (Jalil Lespert
Jalil Lespert
Jalil Lespert is a French actor, screenwriter and director.Born to a French father, actor Jean Lespert, and an Algerian mother. He studied law before turning to acting, to please his mother who is a jurist...
), a young avant-garde artist who is also pursued by Gilberte's young friend Huguette (Audrey Tautou
Audrey Tautou
Audrey Justine Tautou is a French model and film actress, best known for playing the title character in the award-winning 2001 film Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, Sophie Neveu in the 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code, Irène in Priceless and Coco Chanel in Coco avant Chanel...
). Gilberte is then aghast to discover that her husband has invited to dinner an American, Eric Thomson (Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...
), with whom he is about to sign a deal, and who is none other than her first husband. With embarrassment Gilberte appeals to the truculent Eric to preserve her secret.
Act 2. Ten days later, at a soirée at the Valandrays' house, preparations are in hand for a performance of Charley's new play "Âmes primitives", set in Mexico. Eric is considering whether to renew his marital claims upon Gilberte, who seeks to deter him by demonstrating that Charley is her lover. Faradel offers the use of his bachelor flat to Charley who invites Huguette there - and Gilberte. Meanwhile Eric, who is about to take over the lease of the same flat himself, gives the address to Georges.
Act 3. The following afternoon, all the characters arrive under different pretexts at Faradel's bachelor flat, to the bemusement of the concierge Madame Foin (Darry Cowl
Darry Cowl
Darry Cowl, born André Darricau, was a French actor and musician. He won a César Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2004 for his role as a concierge in Pas sur la bouche , which proved to be his last appearance.He was born in Vittel, and came to prominence when he was cast by Sacha...
). Just as Georges thinks he has discovered his wife's secret, Arlette declares that it was she who was Eric's first wife and now they are reconciled - and Eric upholds the lie, delightedly overcoming his longstanding horror of being kissed on the lips. Meanwhile Charley has been happily seduced by Huguette, and Georges and Gilberte are restored to peace of mind.
Production
Resnais's film is a faithful adaptation of the operetta by Barde and Yvain. Its original dialogue was retained, even when outdated, and characters are unchanged except in one instance (Arlette); four of the original musical numbers were omitted because they were felt to slow up the action. Orchestration and some additional music was provided by Bruno Fontaine. In selecting his cast, Resnais was insistent that he wanted actors who sang rather than singers who acted, and several of his regular collaborators (Azéma, Arditi, Wilson) appear. The songs were recorded first and the film was then shot with the actors performing to a play-back. Resnais circulated LubitschErnst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
's 1925 (silent) adaptation of Lady Windermere's Fan
Lady Windermere's Fan (1925 film)
Lady Windermere's Fan is a 1925 American silent film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It is based on Oscar Wilde's 1893 play Lady Windermere's Fan which was first played in America that year by Julia Arthur as Lady Windermere and Maurice Barrymore as Lord Darlington.- Cast :*Ronald Colman as Lord...
among his cast to intimate the tone of the film that he wanted.
The entire film was shot in a studio (in Arpajon). Jacques Saulnier, another of Resnais's longtime collaborators, provided elegant and sumptuous set designs, which together with the glamorous costumes designed by Jackie Budin complement the theatrical style of the acting, and frequent use of long camera shots enable a fluid staging of the musical numbers. Various cinematic devices are used both to intensify the characterizations (especially with close-ups and direct-to-camera asides), but also to distance the film spectator from the theatrical experience (e.g. dissolves to achieve characters' exits, overhead camera shots for some of the ensemble numbers).
A set of four trailers
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
for the film was made, in which 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...
, another regular actor for Resnais, complains that he has been passed over for various roles in this film; these were directed by Bruno Podalydès.
Reception
The film was notable for the polarised reactions which it produced among different audiences when it was released. In France it was a respectable success with the public (642,693 admissions). The response of the French press was predominantly enthusiastic, with many awarding it a high rating, even if they admitted to a sense of guilt at enjoying something so unfashionable. The film was also nominated for a number of awards in France (see below).A very different reaction was expressed when the film appeared in Great Britain, where the apparent frivolity of an old-fashioned musical comedy presented by a director previously known for intellectual seriousness caused indignation and incomprehension. "An inert, sclerotic piece of nonsense with unendurably mannered performances", "a flavourless adaptation... banal lyrics... philistine jokes about the arts...", "laboriously frothy", and "excruciatingly embarrassing" were among the typical responses of British reviewers. Elsewhere however it was pointed out that over the previous 20 years Resnais had repeatedly demonstrated his cinematic engagement with various forms of popular culture (the strip-cartoon in I Want to Go Home
I Want to Go Home (film)
I Want to Go Home is a 1989 French film directed by Alain Resnais, from a screenplay by Jules Feiffer. It explores the differences between French and American cultural values through a story about a veteran cartoonist who encounters conflicting reactions to his work during a trip abroad.-Plot:Joey...
, boulevard theatre in Mélo
Mélo
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...
, the popular song in On connaît la chanson
On connaît la chanson
On connaît la chanson is a 1997 French 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.- Plot :Odile , a business executive, is married to weak,...
), and that here again he was doing same for Parisian operetta with genuine affection, and without adopting "the posture of a high-art auteur bending down to, or 'reworking', a popular genre". Referring to the use of anachronistic devices, the same reviewer noted that "part of the attraction is also in [the film's] distanced nature - the modernist director has not entirely disappeared"..
In the USA, the film did not achieve a commercial release, and apart from a few restricted theatrical screenings it only became generally available when it was issued on DVD (2005). It did however attract a few appreciative reviews. One indirectly addressed the charge that the film was outdated: "Alain Resnais's dazzling madcap musical ... makes the grim preoccupations of a younger generation appear rather conventional".. Another reinforced the point that the film was "a buoyantly entertaining example of everything old made new again. ...It's glamorous, funny, suspenseful, anchored in human nature and profoundly silly all at once".. One of the strongest defences of the film was made by Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
, who concluded with the following description: "an elegant, funny, creepy, soulful, and formally exquisite period operetta that demonstrates a keen sense of how suffocating polite society can be and how persistent desire is in spite of it. In short, the key themes of the Surrealist movement".
Accolades
Pas sur la bouche was nominated for nine CésarCésar Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
awards, including best film and best director; it won three of them (for best sound, best costumes, and best supporting actor, Darry Cowl).
The film also won the Prix Lumière (2004) for best film (awarded by the international press in Paris).
Alain Resnais won the Étoile d'or (2004) for best director (awarded by the Academy of French film journalists).