Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I saw the Jacques Brel Play in NY with the Original Cast years ago. I have seen the film many times and even saw it when it was shown in Movie Theatres. I now own the DVD. The cast is tremendous and talented. Elly Stone, What else can be said of her.She is a marvel to listen to in person and on record. She is a woman who sings with passion and she is the best person to come along and sing Brel's music. Stone has a vibrant focus in her voice and clear diction and her strong singing comes through with each lyric. The late Joe Masiell has a great screen presence and a voice that can strip paint away. His acting through song is the best on screen. The talented Mort Shuman has great comedic flair with a a great barrel chested voice and demanding presence Overall Jacques Brel is Alive and Well will live on forever on film.

This film is of interest because it captures two of the original performers of the original version of the Off-Broadway revue, and because Jacques Brel appears in it. But wow, it couldn't be more 70s. The show is not improved by the faux-surrealism or the "hippie children" running around like escapees from "Pippin" or "Godspell". Elly Stone, who brought Jacques Brel's songs to the US, has an intensely irritating voice but is still compelling. Mort Shuman, another original cast member (I believe he also did some of the translations), is quite good. For some reason they dropped the second female role, and the second male role is played by Joe Masiell rather than the original Shawn Elliott, whom I would have been interested to see. Masiell has an excellent voice but his mannerisms are a little over the top.The best part of the film is also the worst: Jacques Brel himself, singing one of his most famous songs, "Ne Me Quitte Pas". It starts out with a closeup of his eyes. The camera pulls back, and you see him simply sitting at a table, singing the song. He's stunning. You think to yourself, "What a great chance to see him at the height of his powers! How smart of them to let him just sit and sing!" And then the camera starts moving in, slowly but relentlessly, to just a closeup of his eyes ... and STAYS THERE for the rest of the song! What idiot directed THAT?? Truly a case of the sublime turning into the ridiculous.

While this is not the best presentation of Jacques Brel's songs, for those who have access to nothing better it will have to suffice. Best is go directly to Brel CDs and DVDs and enjoy him in French. Next best is to attend an excellent theatrical production such as Jacques Brel is Alive an Well" directed by Gordon Greenberg at the Zipper Theatre in New York which opened March 2006. It even outdoes the original 1968 production, retaining the European flavor of the songs, and pleases even the French.After that, there's this sometimes silly, confusing and dated movie with Mort Shuman, American songwriter, who together with Eric Blau did the adaptations of the songs for this show. His performance is worth seeing, especially of Jacky.But the most interesting thing about this show for a hardcore Brel fan like myself is the appearance of Jacques in February of 1974. After this film was made Jacques learned navigation, bought his yacht the Askoy, and took off for a round -the -world -yachting trip. He was no longer living in Paris. By October of the same year he received his lung cancer diagnosis . He was no longer "well".So this movie, which opens with him in audience puffing on a cigarette, confronted by an Addams family type ghoulish character is Jacques last film appearance and somehow premonitory. His glorious performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas is worth the price of the DVD.

For American fans of Jacques Brel, this is a rare opportunity to see him perform. The rest of the cast is excellent. This movie was part of a series of stage performances that the Zanucks put on film. They ran as a subscription series in very limited venues. All were good, some excellent, all very different from what was generally available.