Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand | Opening Film
France / 2024 / Length: 120
Director: David Hertzog Dessites
Language: French, Hebrew subtitles
The Windmills of His Mind
Jazz is Paris, and Paris is jazz, as Malcolm McLaren once observed. So we will open the festival this year with a Parisian composer who had jazz running through his veins - the greatest of French soundtrack composers, Michel Legrand (1932 - 2019).
A virtuoso pianist, arranger, conductor, and composer, Legrand was one of the first European musicians to collaborate with American jazz giants like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and Bill Evans in the 1950s. Over the years, his songs have been performed by iconic artists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Liza Minnelli, Dusty Springfield, Jose Feliciano, Sting and of course Barbra Streisand, whose film Yentl earned an Oscar for Legrand's exceptional soundtrack.
Legrand won two additional Academy Awards for his melancholic ballads that became well-known standards: "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, and the theme of the coming-of-age film "Summer of '42" (1971).
Legrand composed scores for over 200 films - American, British and French - working with renowned directors like Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Lelouch, and Jacques Demy. His collaborations with Demy, particularly the musicals "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and "The Young Girls of Rochefort", helped define the visual and musical aesthetics of the French New Wave.
Michel Legrand's influence on soundtrack composition is as profound as that of the French New Wave directors on cinema itself.
We are honored to present the Israeli premiere of the new documentary "Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand", which offers a comprehensive look at Legrand’s life and work. As a further tribute, we will also screen the classic French New Wave film "Cleo from 5 to 7" (1962) directed by Agnès Varda, for which Legrand composed the unforgettable score and also participated in.
Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand (Il était une fois Michel Legrand)
A captivating portrait of the famous jazz musician and film composer, Michel Legrand. Using exclusive personal archives captured in super 8 format, the film takes us through the last two years of his life, revealing public moments during major events in cities like Paris, Moscow, Lodz, and others. It also shows intimate moments with his collaborators, friends, and his wife, as well as solitary moments dedicated to his writing. Using never-before-seen archives and personal accounts, the film looks back on a lifetime dedicated to music, and the career of a man who served it masterfully to the very end.
The screening will be preceded by a short opening ceremony.
Total duration approx. 135 minutes
Come watch Cléo from 5 to 7 with a soundtrack by Michel Legrand
עוד מספרים על הסרט
כתב העת סינמטק
עוד בכתב העת סינמטקדבר המערכת – גיליון מקוון אוגוסט 2022
סינמטק / 12.08.2024
גיליון זה מוקדש כולו לפסטיבל ה-75 בקאן. בעיני רבים נחשב פסטיבל זה לאירוע הקולנועי המרכזי של השנה, ומידע
לקריאהנשארים מעודכנים
הרשמו לניוזלטר ותקבלו מאיתנו עדכונים והמלצות על כל הסרטים והאירועים החדשים והכי מעניינים
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