Theme from Jean de Florette

I'm prone to obsessive behavior, like a match I just need a firm strike and I burst into all-consuming flames (though I don't burn out so quickly). My current obsession is the film Jean de Florette and its soundtrack. I rented it from Netflix a few days ago mainly because I was in the mood to watch two of my favorite French actors, Gerard Depardieu and Yves Montand, at work and I was not disappointed even though I struggled with Montand's character because my adoration for Montand made it difficult to swallow the darker parts of his character. Without further adieu I present to you the lovely piece of music that I can now sort of pick out on the piano and am slowly managing to play on the harmonica:

And here's the cheesy trailer (keep in mind the trailer is very much from the '80s ^_^)

12/30/10 EDIT

Here is a clip of Toscanini conducting the piece "La Forza del Destino" by Verdi which inspired the "Jean de Florette" soundtrack

He Will Be Restrained

composed by Handel, adapted and arranged for "The Madness of King George" by George Fenton

I watched this film not too long ago and being the huge fan I am of the actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Handel's music I loved it. The following is from one of my favorite scenes and Handel's music from "Zadok the Priest" fits perfectly.

Here is the scene from the film:

Last Holiday Suite: I. Main Titles

composed by Francis Chagrin

Another film soundtrack from another favorite (Alec Guinness is in it, what's not to love?!). One of the many things I love about old films is how they can get away with deus ex machina endings and not-so-happily-ever-after endings even in "comedies" [I will not reveal what kind of ending Last Holiday has ;-)] we let them slide because we think "Oh well, they didn't know any better, it's an old movie and the industry was in it's infancy" but I beg to differ sometimes the endings are absolutely perfect and most of these films wouldn't be the same without their odd endings. So here's my salute to classic British dramedy and the endings we can see coming but hope to goodness we're wrong about:

Film Score from "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936)

composed by Max Steiner

This video took me FOREVER to put together! As you may have noticed I LOVE films from Hollywood's Golden Age and I especially love old Adventure films with dreamy heroes, beautiful damsels in distress, "exotic" (often California) locations, and powerful music. The '36 version of the Charge of the Light Brigade is more inaccurate than most films but because of the previously mentioned reasons I still love it ^_^

Love

sung by Nancy Adams

I loved watching Robin Hood when I was a kid and my cousins and I used to pretend we were the characters from the legend and of course being the ultimate tomboy I was always Robin. We were all under 8 and we reveled in the trees and twigs were our arrows, how we managed to keep our eyeballs I'll never know.

I heard this song again after several years in the film "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and I instantly recognized it and I was thrilled to find the song included in the F.M.F soundtrack.

music purchased from: iTunes

Bist du bei mir

from the film "Joyeux Noel"

This film that takes place on a Christmas during WWI has a wonderful soundtrack including this lovely piece by J.S. Bach

*the following film clip is an Italian dubbed version (the speaking NOT the singing ^_~)

Theme from "Mon Oncle"

music by Franck Barcellini

another film from my all-time favorites list with a spectacular theme ;)

Mother, Mother from "Death of a Scoundrel"

composed by Max Steiner

This music is from one of my all time favorite films. It's definitely very "Hollywoodized" (everyone gets their just deserts in the end) but George Sanders performance (and deliciously deep voice) grab your attention as do the performances by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Yvonne De Carlo. As you listen to the eastern european strains in the music you can almost hear the Czech Clementi Sabourin (played by Sanders) begging for his mother's forgiveness for his transgressions including the death of his brother.