Monsieur Aznavour opens Rendez-Vous French Film Festival with iconic chansons, February 26
Sweeping biopic returns with nostalgic songs and atmospheric cinematography
Monsieur Aznavour.
Rendez-Vous French Film Festival presents Monsieur Aznavour on February 26 at 7 pm at SFU Woodward’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
LISTENING TO THE music of Charles Aznavour conjures old Paris so immediately that you can practically taste the Gitanes.
And the biopic Monsieur Aznavour serves up exactly the sweeping, romantic trip back in time to the City of Lights that fans of “France’s Frank Sinatra” would expect, following the singer of songs like “La bohème” through some of Paris’s most storied cabarets.
If you missed its sold-out screenings earlier this year, you’re in luck: the folks at Visions Ouest have brought the film—a box-office hit in France, where the late Aznavour remains a legend—back to open the Rendez-Vous French Film Festival.
A witty, convincing performance by Tahar Rahim adds to the experience—complete with a dead-ringer raspy voice.
The film starts with his Aznavour’s hard-knocks upbringing as the son of Armenian refugees and follows him through the struggles early in his career. Some of the highlights are the scenes surrounding his friendship with Edith Piaf, played with absinthe-strength edge by Marie-Julie Baup. The Sparrow is drawn to him because, like her, he comes from the streets, but their relationship is complex: she boosts his career, but sometimes Aznavour seems like her glorified chauffeur; at other moments, he endures her stinging critiques.
Still, Aznavour’s story does not entail too much torment; more than anything, it’s a portrait of sheer determination. It’s a “vie en rose”, full of atmospheric concert halls, panoramic Paris street scenes, and nostalgic songs from Aznavour’s massive back catalogue. 
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