Jacques Brel, Fou de Vivre

Jacques Brel sings “Madeleine” over the opening credits of this film and immediately the audience is drawn into the intense theatricality of his performance. Left without a choice, they follow his lead, join the chanson and are left sweaty and breathless, just like Brel. Philippe Kohly, a documentary filmmaker who is renowned for profiling artists, created a fascinating portrait of the legendary singer of Flemish descent who became a master of French chanson. Born in 1929 to as bourgeois family in Brussels, Brel’s father owned a cardboard factory that he was supposed to take over one day. Instead, the younger Brel moved to Paris to become a singer and performer. The film presents archival material as well as interviews with those who were close to Brel, who died way too young, at age 49.