
Movie romance has no better friend than Georges Delerue. As scores became brasher and brassier, or clanged with rock chords, Delerue stuck to his plangent melodies. He was the house composer, the engaging sound and soaring soul, of the French New Wave; his music ornamented films by Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Philippe De Broca (18 collaborations!) and Francois Truffaut—most spectacularly in Shoot the Piano Player and this eternally beguiling triangle tale. The score accompanies, and often carries, Jeanne Moreau through her affairs with best buddies Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre). But the indelible musical moment may be when Moreau sings a charming folkish tune, “Le tourbillon,” as its composer Boris Bassiak plays guitar.