Post by davidhr on Oct 25, 2011 11:11:42 GMT -5
After almost a year of waiting, the Mlle. Zhivago film project finally took its next step yesterday with the release of the trailer, as indicated in the previous thread (the English version is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fjctX8dv0o as noted by David Musiclover in the previous thread). And one must say it looks amazing, with Lara appearing as she never has before. It raises the hope that her great talent may finally be appreciated by a wider audience, depending of course on where the film actually gets released. Trailers often make movies look better than they prove to be, but in combination with what we know is the great music, this may live up to – or exceed - our expectations.
No indication yet as to when the movie will really be released, but the listing we had seen previously had a 2012 date, so if not before the holidays, maybe soon after the new year. As to where, Badoev had said France, as a DVD, and Russian and Ukrainian TV (maybe for the holidays?). It would be a shame if that is the extent of it; maybe it will depend on its reception. The comments made by the chief players on the trailer are of such a superlative nature, one wonders if they would be happy with such a limited distribution.
And of course we still have the question of how the film can be released in France when the CD whose music it revolves around hasn’t been released there. Won’t this strike everyone in that country as rather odd? But if the film isn’t released in France, then how can Universal France justify spending almost $3 million on it? The whole enterprise has the mark of Lara’s irrational touch…
Opinions among fans are now almost universal (although maybe not correct) that Lara’s cancellation of the Mlle. Zhivago tour in Russia/Ukraine this fall was at the insistence of Universal, demanding that she go back into the studio and finish a new French album. This is the only way they can connect the two events, and what seems like a sudden decision by Lara to produce a new French language release, when earlier in the summer she said she was still waiting for inspiration to decide what her next project should even be. If Universal was behind it, then a release in France of the Mlle. Zhivago CD would not seem to be on their agenda, as it would clearly interfere with the buildup to the new French album. But, again if true, Universal would seem to be as irrational as Lara, for they would be prohibiting the release of the CD that is the companion to the movie they themselves are releasing! You gotta love it…
Fans following Alan Badoev’s statements were the ones who found and posted the video promo on youtube; Lara’s Facebook wall never mentioned it (and still hasn’t), a fact the fans did not overlook. However, after the plethora of excited comments in the discussion section, Lara’s people “answered” by saying “Good evening, we will give you news in a timely manner. May all be well with you. The staff.” At that point one got the impression that they were still trying to downplay this whole project, for whatever reason. They even posted some videos on the wall from the Mlle. Zhivago concert in Russia – but none were of songs from the Mlle. Zhivago album. Fans have caught onto this act and are getting increasingly vocal about it. If the movie is a success (whatever that means in practical terms), Lara’s going to have to ‘face the music’ before her French audience and stop running away from it.
Today, however, it got worse. Lara’s FB site removed all discussion and reference to the movie trailer, and in fact the subject of Mlle. Zhivago at all. Not satisfied with the latest excision, they’ve erased all the discussion topics that mention MZ in the topic line for the last month. [Not believing they would really go this far, I searched the whole site to see if they were all put in a new section, but they just don’t seem to be there.] On the Russian forum, it was noted that one site had gotten an official request to remove links to the trailer, so there may be a legal reason for some of this. [Also on that forum, it was noted that Alan Badoev’s people said the request had not come from them.] In any event, several versions remain available (as of this writing) on youtube. Lara even just posted a message on her FB site mentioning that she’s been doing more writing and laughing, enjoying the autumn, again without referring to the trailer. If the goal is to keep this from her French audience, it won’t work, even for the French media, for as noted by the ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ site, the website ‘chartsinfrance.net’ has picked up the story, speculating that with the trailer out, the movie can’t be far behind. If the movie is indeed released in France, it will be harder and harder for them to ignore it.
Finally, as concerns the trailer itself, it mentions ‘nine’ novelettes. As we know there are 12 new songs, and 12 episodes were apparently originally planned (as stated on the Mlle. Zhivago Russian site). So it would seem as if several of the songs may not be represented in the movie, and several scenes may have been cut. Or, as suggested on the Russian forum, “Ascolta la voce” may be used as a connecting link between songs, ‘Demaine n’existe pas “and “Tomorrow is a Lie” are the same song, etc. What it does mean is that what was already a short ‘film’ would now be even shorter. Nine is, however, Lara’s ‘lucky number’ .
The trailer looks rather violent, not really in the mood of the very melodic songs, but the movie would seem to deal with rather serious societal topics. (Some interesting screen shots from the trailer are available at: larafabian.borda.ru/?1-1-0-00000059-000-80-0). Alan Badoev had said that if one were expecting a musical comedy, one would be very disappointed (“Umbrellas of Cherbourg” it is not!). If it does get distribution in France, it should change the media’s opinion of Lara quite dramatically –another reason to be dismayed about her attempts to suppress the topic in that country.
In other news (yes, there was some other news), Lara did attend the one-man show of ‘Arthur’, and appeared on the ‘red carpet’ prior to the show. The short video (with English translation) is available from the Lara Fabian Romanian website, and can be seen on youtube at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlvWwM30gVw
Lara uses the opportunity to talk about herself on the red carpet in the version available to us, and doesn’t mention Arthur at all .
The 2 CD set of Thierry Gali of fairy tales in French (“Il etait une fois”) is now available for ordering from FNAC. You may remember Lara reads “Snow White” on it. It costs 25 Euros.
Finally, a comment about the upcoming ‘Facebook’ changes. At the end of this month, the Facebook management is planning to remove the ‘Discussion’ sections, so as to foster more interaction on the ‘Wall’. However, so far the ‘Wall’ limitations have been severe, in terms of number of characters permitted – which is the reason why these news updates have been in the discussion section in the first place. Also, on some sites, ability to write on the ‘Wall’ is limited to those authorized. We’ll see how this is implemented – if the same size restriction is still in place, the links to the ‘News Update’ on several other sites, that originally were posted, will be re-instituted. On one of these sites, a general ‘Yuku’ registration is required, and on the other site, registration is required only if one wants to write something, In both cases, the registration is minimally invasive (basically just a user name and password). Removal of the ‘Discussion’ section will of course affect Lara’s site as well.
David
No indication yet as to when the movie will really be released, but the listing we had seen previously had a 2012 date, so if not before the holidays, maybe soon after the new year. As to where, Badoev had said France, as a DVD, and Russian and Ukrainian TV (maybe for the holidays?). It would be a shame if that is the extent of it; maybe it will depend on its reception. The comments made by the chief players on the trailer are of such a superlative nature, one wonders if they would be happy with such a limited distribution.
And of course we still have the question of how the film can be released in France when the CD whose music it revolves around hasn’t been released there. Won’t this strike everyone in that country as rather odd? But if the film isn’t released in France, then how can Universal France justify spending almost $3 million on it? The whole enterprise has the mark of Lara’s irrational touch…
Opinions among fans are now almost universal (although maybe not correct) that Lara’s cancellation of the Mlle. Zhivago tour in Russia/Ukraine this fall was at the insistence of Universal, demanding that she go back into the studio and finish a new French album. This is the only way they can connect the two events, and what seems like a sudden decision by Lara to produce a new French language release, when earlier in the summer she said she was still waiting for inspiration to decide what her next project should even be. If Universal was behind it, then a release in France of the Mlle. Zhivago CD would not seem to be on their agenda, as it would clearly interfere with the buildup to the new French album. But, again if true, Universal would seem to be as irrational as Lara, for they would be prohibiting the release of the CD that is the companion to the movie they themselves are releasing! You gotta love it…
Fans following Alan Badoev’s statements were the ones who found and posted the video promo on youtube; Lara’s Facebook wall never mentioned it (and still hasn’t), a fact the fans did not overlook. However, after the plethora of excited comments in the discussion section, Lara’s people “answered” by saying “Good evening, we will give you news in a timely manner. May all be well with you. The staff.” At that point one got the impression that they were still trying to downplay this whole project, for whatever reason. They even posted some videos on the wall from the Mlle. Zhivago concert in Russia – but none were of songs from the Mlle. Zhivago album. Fans have caught onto this act and are getting increasingly vocal about it. If the movie is a success (whatever that means in practical terms), Lara’s going to have to ‘face the music’ before her French audience and stop running away from it.
Today, however, it got worse. Lara’s FB site removed all discussion and reference to the movie trailer, and in fact the subject of Mlle. Zhivago at all. Not satisfied with the latest excision, they’ve erased all the discussion topics that mention MZ in the topic line for the last month. [Not believing they would really go this far, I searched the whole site to see if they were all put in a new section, but they just don’t seem to be there.] On the Russian forum, it was noted that one site had gotten an official request to remove links to the trailer, so there may be a legal reason for some of this. [Also on that forum, it was noted that Alan Badoev’s people said the request had not come from them.] In any event, several versions remain available (as of this writing) on youtube. Lara even just posted a message on her FB site mentioning that she’s been doing more writing and laughing, enjoying the autumn, again without referring to the trailer. If the goal is to keep this from her French audience, it won’t work, even for the French media, for as noted by the ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ site, the website ‘chartsinfrance.net’ has picked up the story, speculating that with the trailer out, the movie can’t be far behind. If the movie is indeed released in France, it will be harder and harder for them to ignore it.
Finally, as concerns the trailer itself, it mentions ‘nine’ novelettes. As we know there are 12 new songs, and 12 episodes were apparently originally planned (as stated on the Mlle. Zhivago Russian site). So it would seem as if several of the songs may not be represented in the movie, and several scenes may have been cut. Or, as suggested on the Russian forum, “Ascolta la voce” may be used as a connecting link between songs, ‘Demaine n’existe pas “and “Tomorrow is a Lie” are the same song, etc. What it does mean is that what was already a short ‘film’ would now be even shorter. Nine is, however, Lara’s ‘lucky number’ .
The trailer looks rather violent, not really in the mood of the very melodic songs, but the movie would seem to deal with rather serious societal topics. (Some interesting screen shots from the trailer are available at: larafabian.borda.ru/?1-1-0-00000059-000-80-0). Alan Badoev had said that if one were expecting a musical comedy, one would be very disappointed (“Umbrellas of Cherbourg” it is not!). If it does get distribution in France, it should change the media’s opinion of Lara quite dramatically –another reason to be dismayed about her attempts to suppress the topic in that country.
In other news (yes, there was some other news), Lara did attend the one-man show of ‘Arthur’, and appeared on the ‘red carpet’ prior to the show. The short video (with English translation) is available from the Lara Fabian Romanian website, and can be seen on youtube at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlvWwM30gVw
Lara uses the opportunity to talk about herself on the red carpet in the version available to us, and doesn’t mention Arthur at all .
The 2 CD set of Thierry Gali of fairy tales in French (“Il etait une fois”) is now available for ordering from FNAC. You may remember Lara reads “Snow White” on it. It costs 25 Euros.
Finally, a comment about the upcoming ‘Facebook’ changes. At the end of this month, the Facebook management is planning to remove the ‘Discussion’ sections, so as to foster more interaction on the ‘Wall’. However, so far the ‘Wall’ limitations have been severe, in terms of number of characters permitted – which is the reason why these news updates have been in the discussion section in the first place. Also, on some sites, ability to write on the ‘Wall’ is limited to those authorized. We’ll see how this is implemented – if the same size restriction is still in place, the links to the ‘News Update’ on several other sites, that originally were posted, will be re-instituted. On one of these sites, a general ‘Yuku’ registration is required, and on the other site, registration is required only if one wants to write something, In both cases, the registration is minimally invasive (basically just a user name and password). Removal of the ‘Discussion’ section will of course affect Lara’s site as well.
David