Cinema Style: Modesty Blaise

cinema style // one movie in ten screenshots

Cinema Style: That Funny Feeling

cinema style // one movie in ten screenshots

Cinema Style: Vivre Sa Vie

cinema style // one movie in ten screenshots.

Une femme est une femme - 1961 {Song of the Week}

Last night I watched A Woman is a Woman (or Une femme est une femme, which sounds much cooler), a Jean-Luc Goddard movie from 1961 starring Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo. I don't think I've had as much fun watching a movie in a long time.

Besides having a great cast and fun storyline, it also had a stupendous soundtrack! I'm especially smitten with the song Tu t'laisses aller by Charles Aznavour. This song has the most interesting lyrics. I would have never guessed what it was about if they hadn't shown the subtitles when the song was played in the film!!

Naturally, since I don't know French, I couldn't do a translation myself but I did manage to find one on the internet, and copied it here:

C'est drôle ce que t'es drôle à regarder / It’s funny how funny you are to look at
T'es là, t'attends, tu fais la tête / You’re there, you wait, you’re sulking
Et moi j'ai envie d'rigoler / And I feel like sneering
C'est l'alcool qui monte en ma tête / It’s the alcohol that gets to my head
Tout l'alcool que j'ai pris ce soir / All the alcohol that I took this evening
Afin d'y puiser le courage / So that I could draw the courage
De t'avouer que j'en ai marr' / To admit that I have had it
De toi et de tes commérages / with you and your old wives’ tales
De ton corps qui me laisse sage / with your body that leaves me virtuous
Et qui m'enlève tout espoir / and takes away all of my hopes

J'en ai assez faut bien qu'j'te l'dise / I’ve had enough I have to tell you
Tu m'exaspèr's, tu m'tyrannises / You irritate me, you tyrannize me
Je subis ton sal'caractèr / I endure your dirty character
Sans oser dir' que t'exagèr's / I don’t dare to tell you you exaggerate
Oui t'exagèr's, tu l'sais maint'nant / Yes, you exaggerate, you know it now
Parfois je voudrais t'étrangler / At times, I would strangle you
Dieu que t'as changé en cinq ans / God you have changed in five years
Tu l'laisses aller, Tu l'laisses aller / You let yourself go, you let yourself go

Ah ! tu es belle à regarder / Ah! you’re beautiful to look at
Tes bas tombant sur tes chaussures / your sagged stockings on your shoes
Et ton vieux peignoir mal fermé / With your old nightgown badly closed
Et tes bigoudis quelle allure / And your curling pins what an elegance
Je me demande chaque jour / I ask myself every day
Comment as-tu fait pour me plaire / How did you do to please me
Comment ai-j' pu te faire la cour / How could I ever court you
Et t'aliéner ma vie entière / Give up my whole life for you
Comm' ça tu ressembles à ta mère / That way you look like your mother
Qu'a rien pour inspirer l'amour / Who has nothing to inspire love

D'vant mes amis quell' catastroph' / In front of my friends what a disaster
Tu m'contredis, tu m'apostrophes / You contradict me, cut me short
Avec ton venin et ta hargne / With your venom and your petulance
Tu ferais battre des montagnes / You’d make the mountains fight
Ah ! j'ai décroché le gros lot / Ah! I drew the first prize
Le jour où je t'ai rencontrée / The day that I met you
Si tu t'taisais, ce s'rait trop beau / If you kept quiet, ‘t would be too nice
Tu l'laisses aller, Tu l'laisses aller / You let yourself go, you let yourself go

Tu es un'brute et un tyran / You are a brute and a tyrant
Tu n'as pas de cœur et pas d'âme / You have no heart and no soul
Pourtant je pense bien souvent / Nevertheless I often think
Que malgré tout tu es ma femme / That in spite of everything you’re still my wife
Si tu voulais faire un effort / If you would make an effort
Tout pourrait reprendre sa place / Everything could fall back into place
Pour maigrir fais un peu de sport / To slim down practice some sport
arranges-toi devant ta glace / Make yourself up in the mirror
Accroche un sourire à ta face / Put a smile on your face
Maquille ton cœur et ton corps / Make up your heart and your body

Au lieu d'penser que j'te déteste / Instead of thinking how I detest you
Et de me fuir comme la peste / And avoiding me like the plague
Essaie de te montrer gentille / Try to be nice
Redeviens la petite fille / Become that little girl again
Qui m'a donné tant de bonheur / Who gave me so much happiness
Et parfois comm' par le passé / And sometimes like in the past
J'aim'rais que tout contre mon cœur / I would love that close to my heart
Tu l'laisses aller, Tu l'laisses aller / You let yourself go, you let yourself go


Tu t'laisses aller [Buy it]

Cinema Style: Daisies