In the late 70’s the Soviet Film Industry was desperately trying to open it’s frontiers to foreign investments and artists. The native country of Sergueï Eisenstein (one of the most prolific director’s of the Soviet Union, who not only made such great masterpieces as Battle Ship Potemkin, Ivan the Terrible or Alexander Nevski but also set the basic concepts of movie making along with America’s D.W. Griffith (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance ) that have lasted the test of time and used to this day) had for decades seen a decline in the artistic qualities of its films during the Stalin years of political purge and dictatorship. The Soviet led War in Afghanistan was lingering on endlessly to the surprise of the Soviet leadership and political rivalries inside the Soviet political and cultural bureaucracy was announcing the beginning of the Perestroika mouvement that was to bring in a new generation of political figures such as Michael Gorbatchev and Boris Yeltsin. French Star’s and movie’s were always very popular in the Eastern Bloc and cultural exchanges never stopped despite the Russian Revolution and changes in the Soviet Leadership over the past century. If censorship would indeed get into the way for political films like Costa Gavras’ The Confession or Z with Yves Montand most European films were tolerated by Russian authorities. In this context a first major step was taken by 1978 to co-produce films with European partners like West Germany and France. Tegeran 43 aka Tehran 43 was a Soviet film co-produced with the two West European countries that benefited from a particularly important budget. It was critically well received for its humanistic message albeit a politically correct and an unprecedented politically neutral film that looked back on one of the Major Conferences of the Second World War That of: Tehran in December 1943 that was to seal the fate of Nazi Germany and prepare D-DAY in Normandy.

Initially the film was also to be shot in Iran but production was interrupted due to the Islamic Revolution and finally shot in Russia.

 

This subject was therefore a pretext for an action packed historical thriller as well as a love story film. It cast such International Star’s as French actor Alain Delon, German Curd Jurgens as well as Russian Stars of the moment such as Igor Kostolevsky and Natalya Belokhvostikova to name a few. However, it was the music score of this film that was to become a hit in the music charts in France and the former Soviet Union. Composed by George Garvarentz with lyrics by Charles Aznavour “Une Vie d’Amour” aka “A life of Love” was to become and Ode for Love and Peace between East and West which ironically also announced the advent of the Cultural glasnost that preceded the political one that was to bring down the Iron Curtain in the years to come …

The beautiful music score of this film is now available on CD at amazon.fr both in Russian and French ( See details in author’s notes). 

 

Here are the lyrics: 

 

Une vie d'amour

 

Lyrics: Charles Aznavour / Music score: Georges Garvarentz

 

Une vie d'amour

Que l'on s'était jurée

Et que le temps a désarticulée

Jour après jour

Blesse mes pensées

Tant des mots d'amour

En nos cœurs étouffés

Dans un sanglot l'espace d'un baiser

Sont restés sourds

À tout, mais n'ont rien changé

Car un au revoir

Ne peut être un adieu

Et fou d'espoir

Je m'en remets à Dieu

Pour te revoir

Et te parler encore

Et te jurer encore

 

Une vie d'amour

Remplie de rires clairs

Un seul chemin

Déchirant nos enfers

Allant plus loin

Que la nuit

La nuit des nuits

 

Une vie d'amour

Que l'on s'était jurée

Et que le temps a désarticulée

Jour après jour

Blesse mes pensées

Tant des mots d'amour

Que nos cœurs ont criés

De mots tremblés, de larmes soulignées

Dernier recours

De joies dés-harmonisées

 

Des aubes en fleurs

Aux crépuscules gris

Tout va, tout meurt

Mais la flamme survit

Dans la chaleur

D'un immortel été

D'un éternel été

 

Une vie d'amour

Une vie pour s'aimer

Aveuglément

Jusqu'au souffle dernier

Bon an mal an

Mon amour

T'aimer encore

 Et toujours

 

Music score available in French and Russian on CD

Amazon.fr

 

VIVE LE CINEMA!

 

 

Author’s notes:

 

Recommended Watching & Listening: Duet Charles Aznavour and Mireille Mathieu sing Une Vie D’Amour (youtube)

 

Recommended Readings:

 

Film review of Franco-Soviet Film « Tegeran ’43 » aka « Tehran 43 » by Darius KADIVAR

 

Iranian Pioneers Of The French New Wave Cinema by Darius KADIVAR 

 

Enduring Friendship : Alain Delon and Farah Pahlavi by Darius KADIVAR

 

MAGIC IN THE MAKING : Marjane Satrapi’s cinephilic choice of Persepolis Cast by Darius KADIVAR

 

Intolerance : the Birth of a Hollywood Controversy by Darius KADIVAR

Photo 1: Photo composition DK

Photo 2: Film poster of Soviet French Film Teheran 43

Photo 3: Alain Delon greeted in Tehran by Iranian Star Behrouz Vossoughi early 1970's ©iranian.com