Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1975)

That was an excellent one.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The most unusual entry in the AFT series was no doubt one of the least successful. Though it attempted to make the source material more cinematic through the use of flashy visuals and edits (think a somnambulistic Ken Russell circa Tommy and Listzomania), this only helped to date a production that, considering the music at its centre, had no right to be dated. Jacques Brel was a brilliant French songwriter and while his music found its way into the English and American pop charts thanks to various bastardizations (stand up Rod McKuen and Terry Jacks), his acerbic lyrical style and gallows humour were always lost in the translation. The intention of the off-Broadway musical was to no doubt make amends for this and to introduce an English-speaking audience to some of the finest songs ever written, yet the power of the songs, no matter how great they are, are reliant on the three performers, who, at least in this incarnation, are simply not up to scratch. While Elly Stone's shrill voice does not help matters, the worst culprit is Mort Shuman.Shuman, a legendary Brill Building songwriter, was responsible for the English translation of Brel's songs and many will know that these translations were scattered across Scott Walker's astonishing first four solo albums of the late sixties. And herein lays Shuman's greatest misstep, as he, coincidentally or not, takes on the task of covering the same songs as Walker. Yet not only does Shuman lack Walker's powerful voice, he also manages to deliver the tunes in a misguided and frequently irritating fashion. Compare his pitiful rendition of Mathilde to the version on Walker's debut, and one will see how crucial the delivery of Brel's songs are to their power, Walker brilliantly straddles an intense line between ecstasy and despair, as compared to Shuman, who lifelessly pouts his way through the song.Only Joe Masiell's voice seems suited to the material and though many of his scenes are highlights, the undoubted triumph is Brel's haunted, French rendition of If You Go Away, where in a single, deeply moving take, the great man himself, approaching his death in 1978, tears a hole in the film that it has no chance of recovering from. If there is a single reason to view the film, it is for this, otherwise one is recommended to save your cash and purchase Brel's own recordings or the compilation Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel.

This adaptation of the stage play is so dated that it almost overshadows the amazing performances. Elly Stone does not have your typical voice but she does have all the power and passion that you could ever add to an interpretation of a Brel song. Watching her sing "Sons of..." is the highpoint of the film. The worst thing about this film is it starts out so poorly it is hard to recover. The opening renditions are very poorly shot. and there are some non-singing, non-vocal moments of "surrealism" that are too awful to be believed. But as we settle into the idea of not having a plot and not apologizing for this fact, the songs become more straight-forward performances. The heartbreaking "Song for Old Lovers" is the highpoint towards the end. It is, however, unfortunate that such a crazy song as sung by Ms. Stone, namely "Carousel", is ruined by some very petty editing "techniques" that climaxes in an image we've already seen and that wasn't effective the first time.Some other song highlights are "Next" and "Mathilde", but it is Ms. Stone that really makes you feel the urgency of these songs. If we could just watch her and the other cast just perform these the way they did on stage, it would have been a better film. But the director decides to rely on some cinematic tricks that just look worse after time.As for Brel's appearance, it is slightly anti-climactic, but utterly moving. His is the saddest and most recognizable of all the songs gathered here, and in its original French the most authentic. We should consider ourselves lucky for the documentation of that moment. I would advise anyone who is willing to watch this to skip the first 8 chapters or so, and start with "Alone" sung by the Priest at the funeral. Then the film is shorter and you miss the embarrassing opening numbers...

As a big Brel fan, I saw this today and was intrigued and so bought it. It may have been the show that claims to have introduced non-French speaking audiences to his music but it is the most painfully awful thing that I have every seen and heard. It is so dated and clichéd 70's awful acting. The "performers" none of them appear to be able to sing in the slightest – they just seem to screech through the awful "translations" of his songs. I cringed watching is – it is just so awful. It not only is a travesty of Brel's music, it is also so badly acted and sung. The translations and "interpretations" of his songs are just so bad. Brel himself makes cameo appearances in this production but for the life of me I cannot fathom why he did and allowed them to murder his music like this. This really is the worst of American 70's theatre productions. I sincerely wish I'd saved my money and spend it on another original Brel recording – or almost on anything else than this. I cannot emphasise enough to people not to waste their money on this. Even as a piece of Brel memorabilia it is the kind of thing that I'd want to hide behind some books and not own up to possessing. The original French of his songs are deeply poetic and touch the deepest of emotions – all this production does is make you cringe and think "it can not possibly get any worse" – and unfortunately it does go on and prove you wrong – it does just get worse and worse. Save your money and stick to the original songs sung by him in French and not put yourself and Brel's music through this torture! All I can hope to recover from this is that I am able to dissuade anyone else from making the same mistake as me and buying it!!!!

How rare it is for a musical to be filmed with members of its original stage cast! In this case, 1/2 of the stage version(Elly Stone and Mort Shuman) star, along with a cast replacement, Joe Masielle(another original member, Shawn Elliott, is in the background chorus). AND, as a special plus, this musical revue's subject appears to perform a song himself. The eclectic non-book of "Brel" doesn't necessarily translate well on screen. Ahhhh...but the Songs! Rendered with impeccable feelings of passion, regret and desire, Mr. Brel IS truely alive and well. This film is truly a haunting experience, and make anyone a fan of the late Belgian songmaster.