Gérard Depardieu in Quand j’étais chanteur

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in Once

We saw two excellent films over the week.
Once a friend brought around and we watched on DVD, the Depardieu was the offering of the film society.

They were both remarkably similiar in theme, and title come to think of it!
Both were about men singers whose lives were changed by the arrival of a stranger, a woman, into town.

In both films the story was told more in the songs of the film than the dialogue.

Both ended with the protagonists walking away from each other, into their own sunsets.

Once was a surprise.
Made on a tiny budget with a singer I would not put into my top ten I wasn’t expecting too much.
In fact it was beautifully done, Hansard’s sometime OTT singing was beautifully tempered by Markéta’s subtle harmonies and both delivered nicely understated performances.
Dublin looked terrific, it was a relaxing feel-good movie, one I could happily watch again.
The French offering was a little grittier with Depardieu putting in a marvellous performance.
What is it about this now fat and aging actor that he can light up a whole screen with a smile?
In this film he played an aging Chanteur, a sort of cross between Johnny Halliday and Daniel O Donnell
His love interest was played by the beautiful Cécile De France, the first French actress to seriously challenge Catherine Deneuve in both looks and ability.

Glen Hansards moving and beautiful song from Once ; Falling Slowly, has just won an Oscar, if any song could have challanged it it must have been Depardieu’s heart breaking French version of the old Drifters standard ; Save the last Dance for Me.

Strangely similar in plot, the performances were so different that they complimented rather than made any odious comparisons with each other.
I really can’t decide which of the two I enjoyed most.