Jules and Jim and Jeanne
Not long ago, I read an article on the legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau, and she talked about the famous scene in Truffaut's Jules and Jim, when she sings a song, "Le Tourbillon de la Vie." (The Wheel of Life.) She mentioned how the song was actually written for her years before by someone she had been in a relationship with, but she now associates the song with the movie, rather than as having been written for her.
Here's that scene from the 1960 film. Without a translation and context. it's sweet, though a bit sing-songy. But still enjoyable in its charm. I post it here, though, for a particular reason, which I'll get to down below.
To make things more comprehensible, though, here is an English translation -- or if you just want to sing along. (The song has a lot of verses -- a lot -- though goes quickly, only about two minutes. But if you want to skip the lyrics, just scroll waaaaay down to the video. Otherwise, ici, les mots -- )
She had rings on every finger
Tons of bracelets around her wrists
And then she used to sing with a voice
That, immediately, seduced me.
She had eyes, eyes like opal
That fascinated me, that facinated me
The oval of her pale face
Of a femme fatale who was fatal to me
We met, we recognized each other,
We lost sight of each other, we lost sight again
We met again, we heated up each other,
Then we separated
Each one is gone
In the whirl of life
I've seen her one day at night, ouch, ouch, ouch,
It's been a long time now ( x 2)
To the sound of banjos I recognized her.
This strange smile that was so appealing to me.
Her voice so irresistible, her beautifull pale face
Moved me more than ever.
I got drunk listening to her.
The alcohol makes forget time.
I woke up feeling
Kisses on my burning forehead
We met, we recognized each other
We lost sight of each other, we lost sight again
We met again, we heated up each other
Then we separated.
Each one is gone
In the whirl of life
I saw her again one night ah!
She fell into my arms again
When we met
When we recognized each other
why lose sight,
And lose sight again?
When we find each other
When we warm again each other
Why separate?
Then both, we got back
Into the whirl of life
We kept on turning
Both of us interlaced
Both of us interlaced
Ahhh, but as I alluded to above, there is a reason why I mention this and post the song -- and it's because of this video below that I came across. It's the French singer-songwriter-actress-model Vanessa Paradis, who sings "Le Tourbillon de la Vie" at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival -- with Jeanne Moreau sitting in the front row.
I'm guessing that there was an event that night honoring her. And what makes the video special is that Moreau has a microphone herself who sings along, and it slightly builds a bit from there.
And just for a fun bonus -- I came across this by accident while tracking the others. Here is Keira Knightley singing the song and accompanying herself on guitar in a commercial for the Chanel jewelry line that was released only three months ago, this past November.
(And what the heck, I throw in an addition connection -- the aforementioned Vanessa Paradis is a Chanel model, as well...)
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