REVIEW: French director Christophe Honore, left, arrives with actress Chiara Mastroianni for Friday's premiere of "Les Chansons d'Amour," screening out of competition at this year's festival. (Reuters ...

French novelist-filmmaker Christophe Honore rightly chooses the most emotional moments for the characters to express thoughts and desires in song. And yet ... it doesn't work very well. Part of the ...

film profile]) and Chiara Mastroianni.

The genre of the realist-inflected arthouse musical has intermittently thrived in France , ever since it was kick-started by Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Papapluies de Cherbourg). It ...

Christophe Honoré doffs his cap to Jacques Demy in this laudably ambitious musical. The 13 catchy tunes work wonderfully, as Louis Garrel tries to recover from the death of lover Ludivine Sagnier.

EARLY in this year's Cannes festival, writer-director Christophe Honoré was philosophical about the prospects for his modern-day musical in the competition for the Palme d'Or. He compared the festival ...