Camille Saint-Saëns Movies
This prolific French composer synthesized Viennese classical and romantic styles with his taste for French salon pieces, opera, and exotic impressionistic pieces to create many colorful, character-filled compositions. Toward the end of his life, Camille Saint-Saëns began writing in a more original, austere style similar to that of Gabriel Fauré.In the Disney Studios-animated feature Fantasia 2000 (1999), the joyous, energetic Finale of Saint-Saëns' delightful set of musical caricatures entitled Carnival of the Animals accompanies the antics of a flock of proper, gracefully dancing and gliding flamingos. One delightfully comic member of the group, who is fascinated with a yo-yo, constantly topples their all-too-well-choreographed ensemble efforts, making for a humorous as well as beautifully drawn segment.
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) depicts the miseries of junior high school and suburban family life as mostly visited upon the film's central character, Dawn "Weinerdog" Wiener (perfectly enacted by Heather Matarazzo). A brief phrase from the solo cello melody of Le Cygne (The Swan) from the Carnival of the Animals is heard as Dawn, enamored, is alone with Steve Rodgers (Eric Mabius), a high school senior and the new guitar player/singer for her brother Mark's (Matthew Faber) pathetic garage band. Le Cygne also appears in the films Heute nacht oder nie (Tonight or Never, 1972), Tonight We Sing (1953), An Englishman's Home (1946), and (uncredited) in The Wizard of Oz.
A descending passage of diminished seventh chords from the mystical, impressionistic Aquarium movement of the Carnival of the Animals is heard in the background as Dawn chants a love charm ("Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, hear me...fall in love with me...take me away from this place") in front of a shrine she has constructed from a wooden Christmas manger containing Steve's high school ID card and his name spelled out in silver glitter. Excerpts from the Carnival of the Animals are also heard in Days of Heaven (1978) and the delightful animated cartoon Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals (1976).
The composer's creepy Danse Macabre appears in the TV series Jonathan Creek (1997) and the short Spook Sport (1939).
Saint-Saëns' opera Samson et Dalila (Op. 47, 1877), with a libretto based on chapter 16 of the biblical Book of Judges that emphasizes the love story between an inspiring leader and a scheming woman (rather than Samson's deeds), has had three television realizations to date: Samson y Dalila for Spanish TV in 1989, Samson et Dalila for French TV in 1981 (with Placido Domingo as Samson and Shirley Verrett as Dalila), and Samson et Dalila for British TV in 1981 (with Jon Vickers as Samson). Excerpts from the opera also appeared in the wonderfully titled silent film Tense Moments From Opera (1922) with live singers. Further excerpts from this opera can be heard in The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Slamdance (1987), and Willow Springs (1973), which also quotes the well-known Havanaise.
Saint-Saëns' music is also quoted in Après la réconciliation (After the Reconciliation, 2000) (Le rossignol et la rose); Underground (1995) (Organ Symphony); Au revoir les enfants (1987) and Nocturno de amor (Nocturne of Love, 1947) with music from the brilliant, elaborate Concert No.2 for piano and orchestra; They Shall Have Music (1939) (aka Ragged Angels) (Rondo Capriccioso); and L'Assassinat du duc de Guise (Assassination of the Duke of Guise, 1908).
Saint-Saëns' opera Henry VIII (1883) received a television production in 1991. The composer himself appears in Sacha Guitry's film Ceux de chez nous (1915) with other legendary personages including Sarah Bernhardt, Edgar Degas, Anatole France, Claude Monet, Jean and August Renoir, and Auguste Rodin. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Movie Guide
- 2008
- R
Some of the world's most-respected directors align forces to pay tribute to the city of the New York in this unconventional omnibus sister film to 2006's Paris, Je T'Aime. Broken into short segments, New York, I Love You is comprised of ten films, most choosing to take a down-to-earth approach to the stories of the countless lives lived in the city on a given day. The segments are as follows, chronologically:
Segment 1 -- Directed by Jiang Wen; written by Hu Hong and Meng Yao; starring Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, and Rachel Bilson.
Segment 2 -- Directed by Mira Nair; written by Suketu Mehta; starring Natalie Portman and Irfan Khan.
Segment 3 -- Written and directed by Shunji Iwai; adaptation by Israel Horovitz. Starring Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci.
Segment 4 -- Directed by Yvan Attal; written by Olivier Lécot and Yvan Attal; starring Robin Wright Penn, Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, and Chris Cooper.
Segment 5 -- Directed by Brett Ratner; written by Jeff Nathanson; starring Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Olivia Thirlby, and Blake Lively
Segment 6 -- Directed by Allen Hughes; written by Xan Cassavetes and Stephen Winter; starring Drea de Matteo and Bradley Cooper.
Segment 7 -- Directed by Shekhar Kapur; written by Anthony Minghella; starring Julie Christie, John Hurt, and Shia LaBeouf.
Segment 8 -- Written and directed by Natalie Portman; starring Taylor Geare, Carlos Acosta, and Jacinda Barrett.
Segment 9 -- Written and directed by Fatih Akin; starring Burt Young, Ugur Yucel, and Shu Qi.
Segment 10 -- Written and directed by Joshua Marston; starring Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman.
Transitions in between segments -- Directed by Randall Balsmeyer; written by Israel Horovitz, James Strouse, and Hall Powell; starring Emilie Ohana, Eva Amurri, and Justin Bartha. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Segment 1 -- Directed by Jiang Wen; written by Hu Hong and Meng Yao; starring Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, and Rachel Bilson.
Segment 2 -- Directed by Mira Nair; written by Suketu Mehta; starring Natalie Portman and Irfan Khan.
Segment 3 -- Written and directed by Shunji Iwai; adaptation by Israel Horovitz. Starring Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci.
Segment 4 -- Directed by Yvan Attal; written by Olivier Lécot and Yvan Attal; starring Robin Wright Penn, Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, and Chris Cooper.
Segment 5 -- Directed by Brett Ratner; written by Jeff Nathanson; starring Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Olivia Thirlby, and Blake Lively
Segment 6 -- Directed by Allen Hughes; written by Xan Cassavetes and Stephen Winter; starring Drea de Matteo and Bradley Cooper.
Segment 7 -- Directed by Shekhar Kapur; written by Anthony Minghella; starring Julie Christie, John Hurt, and Shia LaBeouf.
Segment 8 -- Written and directed by Natalie Portman; starring Taylor Geare, Carlos Acosta, and Jacinda Barrett.
Segment 9 -- Written and directed by Fatih Akin; starring Burt Young, Ugur Yucel, and Shu Qi.
Segment 10 -- Written and directed by Joshua Marston; starring Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman.
Transitions in between segments -- Directed by Randall Balsmeyer; written by Israel Horovitz, James Strouse, and Hall Powell; starring Emilie Ohana, Eva Amurri, and Justin Bartha. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, (more)
- 2007
The Opera National de Paris mounted this production of choreographer Roland Petit's ballet Proust: Or How the Heart Skips a Beat, adapted from Marcel Proust's A La Recherche du temps perdu. The production stars Eleonora Abbagnato, Hervé Moreau, Stéphane Bullion and Manuel Legris and features music by such composers as Beethoven, Debussy, Fauré and Franck. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleonora Abbagnato, Hervé Moreau, (more)
- 2003
French filmmaker and professor of music Denis Dercourt directs the family drama Mes Enfants Ne Sont Pas Comme Les Autres (My Children Are Different). Widowed cellist Jean Debart (Richard Berry) is strict with his two children in regards to their musical education. Teenager Adele (Elodie Peudepiece) studies the cello but yearns for some rebellious independence while 11-year-old Alexandre (Frederic Roullier) is firmly committed to playing the piano and observing his father's wishes. Their stern grandfather Maître Erhardt (Maurice Garrel) is an orchestra conductor and their uncle Gerald (Mathieu Amalric) is a less-ambitious musician who finds work making background sounds. Soon Adele finds herself growing away from her father's harsh rules when she meets fellow musician Thomas (Malik Zidi). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Berry, Mathieu Amalric, (more)
An aging man in a dying town tries to sort out the loose ends of his life, with tragic results, in this drama. Nobuo (Ken Ogata) is an elderly man living in a remote village on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, known for its punishing winters. While the community was once prosperous thanks to the fishing trade, the harbors no longer yield many fish, and as a result the village has fallen on hard times. Nobuo once earned his living making sake, but most of his customers have moved away, and since the death of his wife, he's stopped working and spends his days walking the wind-swept streets of his town. Nobuo has two sons -- Ryoichi (Teruyuki Kagawa), who has struggled unsuccessfully in the city to make a career as a musician, and Yasu (Yasufumi Hayashi), who watches over his ailing father, much to the consternation of his girlfriend Keiko (Fusako Urabe), who wants to move to a city with better prospects. One of Nobuo's few pleasures in life is visiting a salmon breeding pond, where he likes to talk with Michiko (Sayoko Ishii), an attractive young woman whom Nobuo likes to imagine is infatuated with him. Nobuo tries to bring his two sons together for a family reunion, but both siblings have more than their share of bitterness over the hand life has dealt them, and before the evening is over everyone reveals their secrets. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Ogata, Teruyuki Kagawa, (more)
- 1999
Provocateur and master filmmaker Lars von Trier received a severe critical drubbing at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival with the bitter farce The Idiots (1998), about a commune of Danish Gen-Xers who lampoon society by acting mentally challenged. Critics rebelled against the film's strident artlessness (as part of his Dogme 95 movement), its savage take on bourgeois assumptions and its perceived insensitivity toward the disabled. Jesper Jargil captured the making of that controversial movie with this behind the scenes documentary. Jargil captures Von Trier as both a megalomaniac who prods and abuses his actors in order to wring out a true performance and a visionary talent boldly going into uncharted cinematic territory. This film was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1999
- G
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Initially released to IMAX theaters at the crescendo of millennial fever and 60 years after the original Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 was meant to revitalize Walt Disney's goal of a constantly evolving film, with new segments replacing old ones with each re-release. Only The Sorcerer's Apprentice remains, with seven new shorts. Angular, abstracted butterfly-like shapes fly through the air in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; computer-animated whales take flight in Respighi's Pines of Rome; Al Hirschfeld's caricatures of New York life come alive in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue; Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier is retold with computer animation against Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102; frantic flamingos try to stop their yo-yoing comrade in Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, Finale; Donald and Daisy Duck play Noah and his wife trying to manage the ark to Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance; and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth are celebrated in Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, (more)
- 1999
This program, hosted by Sarah Fiene, is a course in music appreciation. Classical musicians explain the intricacies of the music of their genre, then demonstrate their points by playing excerpts from well-known compositions. As the ear is trained to discern the niceties of tone, melody, chords, and even humor in the pieces, appreciation is enhanced. Works by some of the world's great composers, including Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach, are used to educate the listener's ear. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1993
- Add Aldo Ciccolini: Saint-Saëns / Ravel to QueueAdd Aldo Ciccolini: Saint-Saëns / Ravel to top of Queue
Classical pianist Aldo Ciccolini performs the works of Camille Saint-Saëns and Maurice Ravel in this release which finds the famed performer assisted by the Orchestra sinfonica di Torino and the Orchestra sinfonica di Milano. Compositions performed in this release include Ciccolini's "Piano Concerto No. 4 in C Minor, OP. 44", and "Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, OP. 103 'Egyptian'" and Ravel's "Piano Concerto in G Major". ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
This dance-oriented performance release actually features a compilation of solos by two Bolshoi Ballet vets: Mikhail Lavosky and the Kirov-trained Nina Timofeyeva. The solos in question were culled from productions of Adagio, Porgy and Bess, The Dying Swan and Pas de deux Classique. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Gaspard Manesse plays Julien, an 11-year-old Catholic boarding-school resident during the Nazi occupation of France. He is witness to the courage of his instructors, who defy the German's anti-Semitic policies and quietly enroll Jewish children into the school under assumed names. Manesse befriends Jean (Raphael Fejto), one of these "instant Catholics." The refugee children are betrayed by a hostile ex-employee of the school, forcing Julien once more to be a bystander to history as Jean and the teachers are arrested. For this return to the French film industry after several years in the US, Louis Malle purged himself of his own bitter memories of life under the thumbs of the Nazis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gaspard Manesse, Raphaël Fejtö, (more)
This production of the opera Samson et Dalila was staged originally in San Francisco. Plácido Domingo and Shirley Verrett star as the title duo. The storyline follows the Biblical tale of the conflict between the Philistines and the Hebrews and shows how Dalila's influence brought about the end of Samson. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
In ancient Palestine, the Hebrews live as slaves under the Philistines. Samson, a Hebrew of enormous strength, appears and leads a revolt and kills the Philistine leader Abimelech after Abimelech tries to force the Hebrews to worship Dagon, a Philistine god. After his success, the beautiful, seductive Philistine Dalila entreats Samson to come to her that night, intending to trick him and learn the secret of his unnatural strength. Samson goes to Dalila and falls prey to her trickery, after which he is captured, blinded and led away. The Hebrews are once again in the power of the Philistines due to Samson's weakness with Dalila, and the once-mighty Samson is brought into a Philistine temple. There, he is ordered to pray to Dagon. Samson seems to acquiesce, but as he is led to the altar, he prays that his God will restore his strength for one last victory. His prayer is granted, and Samson smashes the columns that support the stone temple, bringing destruction to the temple and death to both his oppressors and himself. Among the many popular arias from this work are "Printemps qui commence," "Israël! romps ta chaîne" and "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix." ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
In this French satire, a meek little bank (Jean-Louis Trintignant) clerk finds fame and fortune when he begins getting lessons from an impoverished novelist (Jean-Pierre Cassel) . Soon the clerk is wowing the Parisians with his ability to make the women swoon, and for his talent at attracting money. The film is also known as The French Way Is. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Romy Schneider, (more)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder's adaptation of a late 19th-century novel by Theodor Fontane is an austere period piece that may be the least characteristic of the German director's films. The titular heroine, played by Fassbinder regular Hanna Schygulla, is a 17-year-old girl forced into a loveless marriage with an old count. Living as the aristocrat's trophy wife, Effi endures her provincial existence unhappily. Her circumstances lead to a brief affair with a young lieutenant that attracts the attention of the townspeople, but not her unsuspecting husband's. Years later, however, the count discovers the love letters between his wife and her lover. As dictated by convention, he challenges the lieutenant to a duel and throws his wife out of their home. The shamed Effi is forced to live by herself, shunned by society and spurned by her family. Effi eventually returns to her unsympathetic parents, who reluctantly take in their disgraced daughter. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
This biographical account of Maya Plisetskaya, prima ballerina of Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet, provides a career spanning account of Plisetskaya's life from childhood, to her early career development, to highlights from her greatest roles. Some of the performance clips include her part in "Swan Lake," "Sleeping Beauty," "Spartacus," and "Romeo and Juliet."
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maya Plisetskaya
Now often cited as one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir's La Règle du jeu/Rules of the Game was not warmly received on its original release in 1939: audiences at its opening engagements in Paris were openly hostile, responding to the film with shouts of derision, and distributors cut the movie from 113 minutes to a mere 80. It was banned as morally perilous during the German occupation and the original negative was destroyed during WWII. It wasn't until 1956 that Renoir was able to restore the film to its original length. In retrospect, this reaction seems both puzzling and understandable; at its heart, Rules of the Game is a very moral film about frequently amoral people. A comedy of manners whose wit only occasionally betrays its more serious intentions, it contrasts the romantic entanglements of rich and poor during a weekend at a country estate. André Jurieu (Roland Toutain), a French aviation hero, has fallen in love with Christine de la Chesnaye (Nora Gregor), who is married to wealthy aristocrat Marquis Robert de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio). Robert, however, has a mistress of his own, whom he invites to a weekend hunting party at his country home, along with André and his friend Octave (played by Jean Renoir himself). Meanwhile, the hired help have their own game of musical beds going on: a poacher is hired to work as a servant at the estate and immediately makes plans to seduce the gamekeeper's wife, while the gamekeeper recognizes him only as the man who's been trying to steal his rabbits. Among the upper classes, infidelity is not merely accepted but expected; codes are breached not by being unfaithful, but by lacking the courtesy to lie about it in public. The weekend ends in a tragedy that suggests that this way of life may soon be coming to an end. Renoir's witty, acidic screenplay makes none of the characters heroes or villains, and his graceful handling of his cast is well served by his visual style. He tells his story with long, uninterrupted takes using deep focus (cinematographer Jean Bachelet proves a worthy collaborator here), following the action with a subtle rhythm that never calls attention to itself. The sharply-cut hunting sequence makes clear that Renoir avoided more complex editing schemes by choice, believing that long takes created a more lifelike rhythm and reduced the manipulations of over-editing. Rules of the Game uses WWI as an allegory for WWII, and its representation of a vanishing way of life soon became all too true for Renoir himself, who, within a year of the film's release, was forced to leave Europe for the United States.. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nora Gregor, Jean Renoir, (more)
