{"id":2363,"date":"2011-02-23T16:38:06","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T21:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2363"},"modified":"2011-02-23T17:02:13","modified_gmt":"2011-02-23T22:02:13","slug":"lp-man-and-a-woman-a-un-homme-et-une-femme-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2363","title":{"rendered":"LP: Man and a Woman, A \/ Un homme et une femme (1966)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>M<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: Disc AZ\/ Released: 1966<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 9 tracks \/ (29:10)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: n\/a.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Francis Lai<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

To call Francis Lai\u2019s 1966 feature film debut meteoric is an understatement, given his main theme for the Oscar-wining film became an international hit, playing for years on radio stations in various incarnations.<\/p>\n

The original soundtrack album, much like the film mix, contains more than the yaba-daba-da duet single, which wasn\u2019t heard in the film until the 80 mins. mark. Besides that wordless male-female vocal version (plus an up-tempo variation that closes the album), there\u2019s another duet with lyrics, culminating in the same nonsense refrain presumably meant to mimic pulsing heartbeats.<\/p>\n

\u201cSamba Saravah,\u201d which took advantage of the samba craze of the era, integrates dialogue and repeated phrases in place of traditional rhyming lyrics; and the gentle \u201cAujourd\u2019hui c\u2019est toi\u201d plays over a montage as Anne wanders and rides through Paris (and simply exploits the striking beauty of actress Anouk Aimee in trendy clothes and wafting, shoulder-length hair).<\/p>\n

\u201cA l\u2019ombre de nous,\u201d in turn, is a wonderful combination of free-form singing with the lyrics gently flowing over a steady heartbeat. Organ chords and subtle acoustic guitar characterize the lovely theme as a haunting liturgical statement on the murkiness of love, and the male singer\u2019s cadence is often punctuated by a loose piano figure before the organ completes the final refrain and the cue fades out.<\/p>\n

The duet \u201cPlus fort que nous\u201d is the album\u2019s longest cue (quite surprising at almost 5 mins.), and it\u2019s a total contrast to the ditzy yaba-daba-da theme. The male tonal drones and passionate female arching are quite arresting, and Lai applies short burst of organ improv to bridge the song\u2019s refrains, but the song\u2019s overall mood is of looming tragedy, and a hint the romance is poised to hit a wall and lose its verve.<\/p>\n

The album also contains a few of the orchestral cues which aren\u2019t straight instrumental theme versions minus voices. \u201cPlus fort que nous\u201d has solo trumpet and a Manciniesque trombone performing looser versions of the theme\u2019s melody, with triste<\/em> strings and woodwinds, and a lumbering beat that hints at the instability of the lover\u2019s burgeoning relationship.<\/p>\n

The galloping orchestral version of \u201cAujourd\u2019hui c\u2019est toi\u201d is written in a classical jazz style (and quite evocative of Michel Legrand), with strings inferring romance, brass injecting burst of urgency, and rapping percussion providing an unwavering momentum. Lai uses the cue in several scenes, including Anne\u2019s first recollection of meeting husband Pierre on a film set, and Jean-Louis\u2019 mad driving during a cross-country race.<\/p>\n

Missing from the album \u2013 released at a time when 30 mins. were sufficient for the market \u2013 are additional instrumental theme variations, including the rather haunting organ rendition which plays over the Main Titles.<\/p>\n

Originally released in mono, Lai\u2019s debut score is a charming mix of teasing, fun, and sadness, but the full score deserves a release after fans have had to settle for this curt version, issued 44 years ago.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related links:<\/p>\n

CD: \u00a0Francis Lai – The Essential Film Music Collection<\/a><\/strong> (2011)<\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: \u00a0Man and a Woman, A \/ Un homme et une femme<\/a><\/strong> (1966)<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>\u2014\u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a> \u2014\u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0M<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ M . Rating: Very Good Label: Disc AZ\/ Released: 1966 Tracks & Album Length: 9 tracks \/ (29:10) . Special Notes: n\/a. . Composer: Francis Lai . . Review: To call Francis Lai\u2019s 1966 feature film debut meteoric is an understatement, given his main theme for the Oscar-wining film became […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[311,310],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-C7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2363"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2384,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions\/2384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}