Ismaël Bénoliel

Ismaël Bénoliel, played by Louis Garrel, is the main character of the French musical film, Love Songs. 

The story starts with Ismaël, Julie, and Alice in a three-way relationship. There is tension, Julie especially feels insecure and jealous about Ismaël’s attraction to Alice. However, she is also clearly attracted to Alice and enjoying having her in the relationship. 

Julie suddenly dies fairly early on, leaving Ismaël devastated. Alice takes him in and he meets a young man named Erwin. Erwin is determined to seduce Ismaël and pursues him aggressively. What starts out as comforting sex and a way to forget about Julie develops into a more serious relationship by the end of the film. 

Although Ismaël is clearly still processing the death of Julie and feels guilty about the idea of falling in love again, he is not that concerned by the gender of his new lover.