The Stanzas to Sophie

Céline, an emancipated and self-assured young woman, quite unexpectedly falls in love with a wealthy, staid businessman and marries him. Her middle-class life forces her to bid farewell to her beatnik lifestyle, and so she is soon overcome by boredom. Whilst her husband and his colleagues would prefer Céline to be pretty, quiet and available, she increasingly discovers her own voice: She begins to paint and write, and takes the gender roles of those around her apart with a growing delight in contradiction – aided by a friend with whom she is planning to write a book on sexual mores. A light-footed, offbeat comedy of emancipation with a sharp bite. (tb)

‘Shortly before the end of the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s two-year stay in Paris in the late 1960s, Lester Bowie (1941–1999) was asked by the then first-time director and later Oscar winner Moshé Mizrahi (1931–2018), who was making his directorial debut at the time and would later win an Oscar, to record the film score for his debut feature Les stances à Sophie. The group were almost ready to fly out, but, including the vocalist Fontella Bass, Lester Bowie’s wife, to a Paris studio and, on 22 July 1970, recorded eight distinctly diverse tracks in one go, ranging from Monteverdi to free jazz and African music, right through to the raw soul of the era. ‘Thème de Yoyo’, featuring Bass’s vocals, was to become a landmark. The soundtrack album, which had been out of print for a long time until its reissue in 2000, achieved cult status.” (Jazzfest Berlin, Nov 2018)