''À la folie'' ("To Madness") () is a 1994 French drama film by

Diane Kurys Diane Kurys (; born 3 December 1948) is a French director, producer, filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are semi-autobiographical. Personal life Kurys was born in Lyon, Rhône, France, the younger of two daughters. She is a ...

with music by

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

. It entered the competition at the

51st Venice International Film Festival The 51st annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 1 September to 12 September, 1994. American filmmaker David Lynch was the Jury President of the main competition. The Golden Lion winners were '' Before the Rain'' directed by Milch ...

.Edoardo Pittalis, Roberto Pugliese, ''Bella di Notte'', August 1996.

Cast

Anne Parillaud Anne Parillaud (; born 6 May 1960) is a French actress who has been active since 1977, who is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film ''La Femme Nikita (film), La Femme Nikita''. Biography Parillaud was b ...

as Alice *

Béatrice Dalle Béatrice Dalle (born 19 December 1964) is a French actress and model. She has appeared in over fifty films and is best known internationally for her debut role in the 1986 film '' 37°2 le matin'' (also released as ''Betty Blue''). Béatrice Da ...

as Elsa * as Franck * Bernard Verley as Sanders *

Alain Chabat Alain Chabat (; born 24 November 1958) is a French actor, comedian, director, screenwriter, producer and television presenter. Originally known for his work in the comedy group Les Nuls, including as the co-writer and lead actor of ''La Cité de ...

as Thomas * as Raymond * Marie Guillard as Betty *

Michael Massee Michael Groo Massee (September 1, 1952 – October 20, 2016) was an American actor. Active on screen during a three decade career, he frequently portrayed villainous characters. His film roles include Funboy in the dark fantasy ''The Crow'' (1994 ...

(uncredited)

Plot

Two rival sisters, Alice and Elsa, have been apart for two years. Alice, a promising young artist, lives in an attic flat in Paris. Her lover Franck, a boxer, has just moved in with her. Problems for the happy couple ensue when Elsa, a bored housewife, suddenly appears unannounced at their door after leaving her cheating husband Thomas and their two children, and a menage-a-trois develops. Elsa immediately begins trying to dominate their lives. Alice wants the out-of-control Elsa, who disrupts their life by playing psychological games with them, to leave, but then suddenly changes her mind, unable to bring herself to throw Elsa out. To thank her, Elsa destroys her art studio, has sex with Franck, convinces him that Alice is unbalanced, and then ties Alice up in her apartment.

Music

The music by

has been praised as one of his better works, and considered unusually buried in the sound mix of the film. The album is Nyman's 23rd release, and the fourteenth with the

Michael Nyman Band The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, ''Il Campiello'' directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic. The band did not wish to break up aft ...

. The American album became very difficult to come by; American Nyman fans attempting to special order the album only a few years later were often presented with copies of

Randy Edelman Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American musician, Record producer, producer, and composer and Conducting, conductor for Film score, film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway theatre, Broadway's pit orchestras; he ...

's ''

Six Days Seven Nights ''Six Days, Seven Nights'' is a 1998 American action-adventure comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman, produced by Reitman and Roger Birnbaum, and starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche. The screenplay was written by Michael Browning. It was fil ...

'', derived from distributors'

fuzzy search In computer science, approximate string matching (often colloquially referred to as fuzzy string searching) is the technique of finding strings that match a pattern approximately (rather than exactly). The problem of approximate string matching ...

es. In France, however, the album was promoted as "Michael Nyman Nouvel Album." The score features yet another of Michael Nyman's

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

es. "Waltzing the Bird" is based on Nyman's early "Waltz in F," which appeared on ''

'', although it develops in a very different direction. "Love Theme" is a very loose reworking of material from the '' String Quartet No. 3'' with material from other themes written for the score of the film. The only liner notes on the French release of the album are an uncredited synopsis of the film in French.

Track listing

#Solitude 1:36 #Broken Glass 4:58 #Sisters 1:42 #The Intruder 2:40 #Waltzing the Bird 3:16 #A New Beginning 1:22 #Stolen Memories 5:48 #À la Folie... 5:48 #The Streets of Paris 2:39 #Love Forever 1:19 #Love Theme 2:35 #Point of No Return 2:55 #Escape 3:37 #Broken Dreams 4:19 #Dark Fantasy 2:25 #Six Days, Six Nights 5:51

Personnel

Musicians from the

Beverley Davison Beverley Davison is a British violin virtuoso, currently fronting an act she founded called Classical Cabaret: Hot Strings (ensemble) or "Classical Cabaret Duo" (solo with piano).Mowbray, Christopher (1993)With strings, but no hang-ups: Chris ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

Ann Morfee Ann Morfee, sometimes credited as "Anne Morphee", "Ann Morphy", or similar variants, is co-founder of Opus 20. She was a member of the Michael Nyman Band from 1992 to 2002. Life She was educated at Chetham's School, Manchester, University of ...

– violin *Marshall Marcus – violin *Katherine Shave – violin *Kate Musker –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

*Anthony Hinnigan –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

*William Schofield – cello *Christopher Laurence –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Tim Amhurst – bass *

John Harle John Crofton Harle (born 20 September 1956) is an English saxophonist, composer, record producer, conductor and educator. He is an Ivor Novello Award winner, has been the recipient of two Royal Television Society awards and has contributed dir ...

–

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

s * David Roach – soprano/alto saxophones * Andrew Findon –

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

* Nigel Barr –

Trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

* Steve Sidwell –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

piccolo trumpet The piccolo trumpet is the smallest member of the trumpet family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B or A, using a separate leadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B picco ...

* Marjorie Dunn –

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

*Martin Elliott –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

*music composed, arranged, conducted, and produced by Michael Nyman *Published by Chester Music Ltd./Michael Nyman Ltd. *Engineer: Michael J. Dutton *Assistant Engineer: Dillon Gallagher *Mixed at CTS Studios, London *Edited at Transfermation and

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

, London *Artist representative for Michael Nyman: Nigel Barr *Design, illustration, and photography by

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an England, English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as S. F. Said, S.F. Said, ...

@ Hourglass *Photography from ''6 Days 6 Nights'' by Jean-Marie Leroy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:A La Folie 1994 films French drama films 1990s French-language films Films directed by Diane Kurys Films scored by Michael Nyman 1990s French films