une folle course-poursuite
“Ein Film, das Sie nie vergessen werden,” says the announcer, and this claim may very well be true. Presenting Das Lied der Balalaika, a 1971 attempt by “opera singer” Ivan Rebroff to cross over into… well, it’s difficult to define exactly the genre here. L’homme qui vient de la nuit (as the picture is entitled, even more confusingly, in French) is a musical; it’s a thriller; it’s a circus melodrama — sort of Yes, Giorgio meets The French Connection meets Berserk! And La Cieca is not even going to try to figure out what the smoking chimps are all about. She doubts the trailer will give even native German speakers much of a clue, but see for yourselves.
Ah, now this makes sense — of a sort –even in French. Spoilers follow:
Sacha Voronine, célèbre chanteur sur le point d’épouser le top-modèle Nathalie, est victime de John Darow, qui tente de l’assassiner en l’assommant et le jetant à la mer. Sacha est recueilli par des pêcheurs mais il a perdu la mémoire et prend le nom de Samson. C’est à l’occasion du passage d’un cirque que la mémoire de Samson commence à se réveiller, lorsqu’il entend un air qu’il connaissait et qu’il se met à chanter. Décidant de partir avec la troupe du cirque, il finit par être engagé par le directeur d’une radio qui le lance sur les ondes sous le nom de « chanteur inconnu ». Nathalie, entretemps mariée à John, reconnaît sa voix et veut le retrouver ; Sacha la repousse car il est tombé amoureux de Maria. John cherche de nouveau à éliminer Sacha, puis tente de kidnapper Maria. Après une folle course-poursuite [naturellement! - LC], Sacha triomphe de John qui est arrêté par la police.
Trailers! I love trailers! I wish the film would never start and the trailers would go on and on and on and….
I mean: Films nowadays are so … predictable. Trailers often surprise one. Especially if one never goes to the actual film.
I looked this movie up in the IMDB and some weird facts tumbled out. Ivan Rebroff (real name Hans-Rolf Rippert) had a brother named Horst. And just last year Horst made the (unverifiable) claim that he had been the pilot who shot down Antoine de Saint-Exupéry during WWII.
Also, the villain in Ivan’s film is played by Sydney Chaplin, who, I guess, is one of those covered by the announcer’s words near the end of the trailer: “And with many other pretty girl’s and well-known actors.”
I didn’t even know “Yes, Giorgio” was a remake!
I believe he sings Gremin on the 1957 Vishnevskaya “Yevgény Onégin.”
Neeley @ 5:
That was Ivan Petrov (but then again, all those Ivans, Sergeis, and Vladimirs begin to bleed together after a while). Unfortunately, my only acquaintance with Rebroff is that chilling falsetto Orlovsky on the Kleiber, fils Fledermaus recording…and I seriously doubt that “chilling” is an appropriate effect for Orlofsky…
Sydney Chaplin is well known if you’re a theater buff. He won a TOny award for “Bells Are Ringing”, with Judy Holliday and was nominated again for “Funny Girl” with Barbra Streisand. His father was Charlie Chaplin’s half-brother. And his career spanned 25 years of films, theater and TV
Rebroff sang Tevye in “Un violon sur le toit” in Paris, circa 1971. Not exactly Zero Mostel–but Fiddler in French didn’t exactly slip off the tongue, eg, ‘ah, si j’etais riche [ri-she]– but Rebroff was a resonant basso.
“And just last year Horst made the (unverifiable) claim that he had been the pilot who shot down Antoine de Saint-Exupéry during WWII.”
Top THAT, Grace Millo and General Price!
Putting an end to that flow of pompous whimsy would automatically give Horst “Good German” status in my book.
Echt hirnverbrannt!
In regard to the above comments to strange connections of various people: A friend told me he met Galina Ulanov the famed Russian dancer , still during the Iron Curtain days,in the West. Who was her ‘political minder’, watching over everything : a big burly aggressive ‘butch’ type. It turned out to be the actor Yul Brynner’s sister!
Rebroff’s range was truly remarkable. I remember being amazed by a recording of the song “Vechernii zvon” (”Evening Bells”) where he started out in the basso profundo range and worked his way up to a very respectable soprano.