French Postcards (1979)

Debra Winger charms in this funny, romantic and touching comedy about the exploits of a trio of naive American pupils - and their sexual awakenings in the bewitching city of Paris! French Postcards captures the excitement of discovery and thrill of young love as the three get their education at the hands of a hilariously harassed headmaster, his sexy - and adventurous - wife, and a beautiful shop girl. Watch for a star turn by Mandy Patinkin who joins the cast of this beguiling and bittersweet comedy. Product Description

Valerie Quennessen!!!!!!!

What can I say? Ever since I first saw this movie, I had fallen deeply in love with Valerie Quennessen. I seen just about every movie she has been in, and it was with a deep depression that I had found out one day while looking her up to see what happened to her, that she had died. She had so much to offer!

This movie just plain touched me. It involved just about everything that I had WISHED I could have done with my life back when I was younger, but never did. The bacground of Paris is so beautiful, and the adventures so much fun. One scene in particular that gave me a chuckle, was when Joel was staying at home with the old French lady and watching Star Trek - dubbed in FRENCH LOL! Reminded me of a story my brother told me about when he was stationed in Germany - how he was watching Casablanca, dubbed in German. He told me how the dubbed voice for Bogart was some high pitched squeky guy LOL.

But if you want a fun and enjoyable movie, with some truly unforgettable characters in it, do see this movie!!!!!!!! And if like me, you get blown away by the beauty of Valerie Quennessen, then your next stop would be Summer Lovers. July 21, 2008

Love the movie, but the DVD is another question

First of all, I'm very grateful that "French Postcards" finally has made it to DVD. I fell in love with this movie on HBO back in 1980, when it seemed to be on at least once a day. It's a sweet and funny movie that perfectly captures that in-between stage of life when you're in college.

The cast is terrific: The late Valerie Quennessen is completely enchanting as Toni, a young French woman who falls in love with bookish American student Joel (Miles Chapin). There's also Blanche Baker, hilarious as she travels through Europe checking out the graves of famous authors. The DVD packaging makes a big deal out of Debra Winger being in the cast, but she barely gets any screen time.

The movie is delightful, but as for the DVD? Well, although the box doesn't state it, the music has been changed from the original release. Part of the movie's charm (and a comic comment on the scenes) was the use of French-language versions of American pop songs, including "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and "Do You Believe in Magic." Those have all been excised, replaced by generic-sounding French songs. There were some well-known English-language recordings in here, too: The Kinks' "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" and Nicolette Larson's "Lotta Love" were both prominently featured. Now, the Kinks' song has been replaced with an anoynmous dance tune; the Larson song has been replaced by...silence.

Perhaps the weirdest move of all involves a play the students put on. During the course of the production, Baker leads the students in singing Cole Porter's "You Don't Know Paree." However, the sequence in which Baker performs a solo has been completely removed. Then, instead of hearing the students sing the song, we see the students on stage, mouthing the words to the Porter song but the soundtrack has a chorus of tuneless people chanting: "I love Paris, oh how I love Paris, I love Paris, it's here I want to stay." OK, even if you've never seen the movie before, I think that would be noticeable.

The movie is presented in widescreen and the picture is fine, but the butchering is a major disappointment. I realize this wasn't a hit movie, but it's still wildly annoying. There are no extras and the packaging is rather sloppy: Even Quennessen's name is misspelled on the box cover. So, again -- love the movie, wished the DVD was better. Still, it's better than nothing.

July 1, 2008

A charming film

If you are looking for an intellectually challenging film, this isn't it.

French Postcards is, however, a charming, sweet story about the hopes and expectations of Americans studying in Paris for a year.

I first saw this film on Cinemax in the early 80s, and thanks to having picked up a VHS copy of it a few years ago, I have continued to enjoy this little gem of a guilty pleasure. I appreciate aspects of it further now that I've been to Paris myself a few times.

Contrary to the implication of the item description for this film, Debra Winger (in one of her earliest acting roles) does not play a major role in the film. Her character does, however, appear at various junctures, often injecting bits of humour. Mandy Patinkin makes a brief, though somewhat key appearance in the film as Laura's (Blanche Baker) chauvinistic Iranian weekend traveling companion.

The story revolves around four main characters: a somewhat socially clumsy but likable Joel (Miles Chapin); serious, humourless, prudish tourist-y Laura (Baker), whose postcards home to her boyfriend give the film its title; romantic musician, Alex (David Marshall Grant), who falls for the French Institute's co-director (Marie-France Pisier); and Toni (the late Valérie Quennessen), a Parisienne with whom Joel falls in love.

The story is, for the most part, light and funny, but there are nonetheless a few poignant moments. One of my favourite moments in the film is Alex's performance of a song ("The Thing Of It Is") written for Madame Tessier (Pisier) in lieu of the assigned essay. "A romantic look at a classic situation," he describes it.

Veteran actor Jean Rochefort also plays a central role in the film as Madame Tessier's husband and the Institute's brusk co-director.

Again, while not a major breakthrough motion picture, it's a delightful little film, and I'm looking forward to the release of the DVD. June 15, 2008

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