It’s a song that resembles us. “The Whirlwind” of an irregular man and an irregular woman

“Le Tourbillon”, a song performed by Jeanne Moreau in the film “Jules et Jim” by François Truffaut, is the work of a painter, Serge Rezvani, who only writes songs for a circle of friends – including the actress. And he accompanies her on screen.

In partnership with the exhibition It’s a song that resembles us – Worldwide hits of French-language popular music At the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts, these chronicles look in detail at each of the stories presented there.

Albert has taken up the guitar and Cathy sings. She sings in front of Jules and Jim, the two men who have loved her for years, accompanied on the guitar by this third lover, in a complicated, sensual, troubling, romantic game, which makes the splendor of François Truffaut’s film. Jules and Jim. On May 25, 1961, on the 35th day of filming, the director moved on to direct sound recording for sequence 59. While all the rest of Jules and Jim is post-synchronized for budgetary reasons, this scene is recorded on set, and therefore the song that we have all known by heart for over 60 years. This immortal song is the one that Jeanne Moreau and Serge Rezvani recorded in a few moments on the set.

The most unusual thing about this tour de force is that Serge Rezvani is not a guitarist, any more than Jeanne Moreau is a singer. And it was only to add a little spice and charm to the emotionally complex situation of the characters that François Truffaut decided, probably shortly before filming, to add this song that was written and composed by Serge Rezvani, who is neither an author nor a composer, in principle, nor even an actor. Truffaut asked him to play this character so that he could accompany this song in his film. And this song is a portrait of Jeanne Moreau. Yes, Jeanne Moreau sings a song that talks about her.

In this episode of It’s a song that resembles usyou hear excerpts from:

Serge Rezvani, Oskar Werner and Jeanne Moreau, in Jules and Jim by François Truffaut, 1962

Jeanne Moreau, The Whirlwind, 1962

Francesca Solleville, The Whirlwind, 1962

Serge Rezvani, The Whirlwind, 2004

Henry Serre, The Whirlwind, 1962

Jeanne Moreau, The Whirlwind, 1962

You can also extend this column with the book It’s a song that resembles us published by Heritage Publishing.

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