I voted for Chirac!!

A horrifying confession - but it was the story of the left in 2002 in France when Chirac and Le Pen were the 2 candidates left in the second round.

We went to an OU French association film day on Saturday where we saw 'Le Nom des Gens' - a querying of identity in modern France. It puts various modern French taboos in conjunction - the Holocaust, the Algerian war, race and asks what they mean for modern society, have they assimilated them or just glossed them over. Here's a trailer (no subtitles)and here's a shorter version - with subtitles and more inhibited! We had a few talks which explained some of the complicated cultural references... (just one) Arthur Martin (the name of the male protagonist) would be like being called John Lewis in the UK! The film is neatly set between the 2002 and 2007 French elections.

Le Havre

Yesterday we went to Altrincham for an Open University day of French Cinema. After an introduction we saw Kaurismäki's Le Havre - here is the trailer A film about and set in the French port of Le Havre, it pays homage to French cinema of the 30-50's as well as merging together the eras! A film about a shoe-shiner and his encounters with an illegal immigrant who is attempting to get to London - it's funny but when you consider the story it's somewhat of an un-funny tale, but that didn't detract from it. Produced by Sputnik films with a dog (a fairly important character) called Laika(!), with a female lead called Arletty (as the 30's French film star lots of scenes and constume reminiscent of those eras. Modern mobile phones abut with phones from the 30's - delightful. I enjoyed the moment after the priests (smoking - as does nearly everyone) have their shoes shined and Monet (the detective in pursuit of the immigrant) appears to go into church and a wooden panelled confessional to be addressed by someone off screen, but after a moment you realise he's in the police station talking to his boss! Delightful!
In the afternoon we had some sessions discussing the film which helped to place the insight of others alongside what I'd seen as well as clips from the related historic films.

Nantes

I listened to the Norman Lebrecht documentary on Barbara (Monique Cerf)last night - if you didn't, I'd recommend a listen while it is still available on iPlayer. Here, if like me you were frustrated by some of the voiceovers, is Barbara singing Nantes:

Understanding the words are vital, so understandably there were translations overlaying the songs especially here, where you are uncertain of the person being addressed until the last emotional bars - but they needed more space (in my view). She was separated from her father - having been abused by him in her early years, here the pain is all too plain. She's hardly known in the UK but there's lots on youtube and well worth the listen!

Georges Brassens : auprès de mon arbre

Georges Brassens was born 90 years ago today..

Avoir des enfants...

Last night there was a French Film evening at Macclesfield College and after a buffet cooked by the catering students (you take a risk! - but every time I've been it has been marvellously cooked and served) they showed Rémi Bezançon's Le Premier Jour du Reste de ta Vie (I don't think I need a translation of the title). A funny and moving film about the inter-generational gap, growing up and the way patterns replicate themselves down the generations. It was a great hit in France - mainly by word of mouth - not a lot happens in the film but it is the little telling details. Maybe there's over-much focus on the family - surely there'd have been partners at, for example, the scattering of the ashes scene? Death looms large - particularly for dogs(!) but it has a tender and affirming message. A couple of reviews are here and here's a a blogger's take on it. Clément Courouve, who introduced it, said that he saw new details and themes each time he's watched it and I shall probably be re-watching...

Sublime silliness

After a discussion on Poulenc's Gloria in the midst of last night's piano lesson (Uttoxeter Choral Society and Sandbach Voices are performing it next week), I spent this morning with Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias

Written in the midst of the occupation of France in the 1940's Poulenc sets words of Guillaume Apollaire. This YouTube clip is from the first act. It gets madder - here's the wikipedia summary of part of act two:

The curtain rises to cries of "Papa!" The husband's project has been a spectacular success, and he has given birth to 40,049 children in a single day. A visiting Parisian journalist asks how he can afford to feed the brood, but the husband explains that the children have all been very successful in careers in the arts, and have made him a rich man with their earnings. After chasing the journalist off, the husband decides to raise a journalist of his own, but is not completely pleased with the results.

..and ends with a call for the audience to go and produce children:

Ecoutez, ô Français, les leçons de la guerre
Et faites des enfants, vous qui n'en faisiez guère
Cher public: faites des enfants!

I was introduced to this piece in the 1970's - at Cambridge - where a theatre group performed this with Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale. I went to see it twice - in part because it was so enjoyable partly because on the first visit I ended up sitting behind a tourist couple who thought they were here to see the Cambridge Footlights and were somewhat surprised at what they were served up with! They were rather restless so I got a far better chance the next night with various of the performers appearing from among the audience. On the Footlights connection - could Monty Python have appeared without some of these surreal pieces of French humour - I'm also thinking of Zazie. There appear to be quite a few film clips from various performances of this work on youTube.
Probably not suitable watching for International Women's day later this week!

Samantha oups ! - Samantha au salon de coiffure

Here's an opportunity to keep your French up to scratch.

Not had one of these (a «Samantha», not a coiffure!!) for over a year and I've just found their facebook page. Just slightly camp but beautifully judged!

Rappelle-toi

.. Barbara

Oh Barbara
Il pleut sans cesse sur Brest
Comme il pleuvait avant
Mais ce n'est plus pareil et tout est abime
C'est une pluie de deuil terrible et desolee

Jacques Prevért and Joseph Kosma.. and suitable listening for a potentially wet Bank Holiday!

Pierrot angry with the Moon

Pierrot fâché avec la lune -

A wonderfully jazzy performance of the middle movement of the Debussy 'cello sonata by Rostropovich.
At one stage 'Pierrot fâché avec la lune' was Debussy's title for this work.

Continuity

We've been a number of times to Honfleur in Normandy, and on a couple of occasions we've been into the Erik Satie museum, in memory of a composer of wonderful eccentricity - probably best known for the Gymnopedies but there's other works well worth the explore. The museum is difficult to find but conjures up the man vividly - the children - who were then young teenagers and allergic to anything which might be a parental enthusiasm - loved it!

An image from that place which caught my imagination and has lived with me and which, I hope, is appropriate for this Easter Saturday was the room in the picture above which summons up both his hedonism - his love of Paris cafe society and his faith - where he was typically in a church of just one(!). The room is split in two, one half being the cafe, the other the church. A communion goblet lies on the table with the wine running down and, in the cafe, there's a wine glass knocked over. The two streams merge into one and flow together across the room making one common experience. How do we feed our Christian experience and our `out-there' experiences into one?

Teach yourself English

I've been to a day at the Manchester Alliance Francaise in celebration of Francophone Day, we learned the differences between French and the variations spoken in Belgium, France and Romania. So here to redress the balance is an English lesson.

I was introduced the deschiens today with this clip with its impenetrable Belgian accents - it does include substance abuse and the punchline is rather obvious - but I enjoyed it!

The Herb Garden

Snowdrops in the bath tub we use as a herb garden. And here's a poem by Paul Eluard (in French)

Une herbe pauvre, sauvage,
apparut dans la neige,
c’était la santé.
Ma bouche fut émerveillée
du goût d’air pur qu’elle avait,
elle était fanée

Here's a link containing an English translation (pdf document) if you need it.
And here's Francis Poulenc's setting of those words:

Simple and luminous, 90 seconds of mastery!

French Dîner

DSCF8046
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

Last night was the annual dinner of the Club Franco-Britannique de Macclesfield - it took place at Bleasdales in Bollington and a large number braved the snow to enjoy a very good evening - the food was excellent and most tables managed to talk French for at least some of the evening! More photos are here on flickr.
Our next meeting is the 23rd March entitled:Café causant et gâteaux faits-maison - bring a poem!

Le Serpent

Last night, in very cold weather, we paid a visit to the first showing in 2010 from Macclesfield's Silk Screen - Barbier's Le Serpent

  Comme Au Cinema

That's the French trailer - you may find it disturbing - so beware! A pretty violent film which pays a rather over the top homage to Hitchcock's Psycho. I didn't want to like it but I was drawn in, it has its moments of humour early on but most of it is hard hitting. Trying to ignore a few gaping plot holes I though this was worth the watch if only for the brooding presence of the filming and sets.

Cantilena

Here's something still for a reflection on the past year:

The Cantilena from the Poulenc flute sonata played by the composer and Jean-Pierre Rampal (for whom it was written). David Isitt, who died earlier this year, introduced it to me, he heard Poulenc perform. I'm not sure if he heard this piece under Poulenc's accompaniment but he played it well.

Samantha - driving lessons

I've not put one of these on the weblog for a few years - I apologise for those who left then are are now thinking it is safe to come back!

Doudi brilliantly takes off teenage girls, I have a dvd of the series somewhere I must dig out. This is good preparation for the relentless chirpiness of Happy-Go-Lucky on C4 this evening.

L'heure d'été

Just back from Olivier Assayas' L'heure d'été:

Tinged with a very French sentimentality with heart-breaking moments an interesting study of what use is art if it isn't experienced and part of everyday life. I even enjoyed the seeming vandalism of the film by the young people in the last scenes. I loved it but I think I was one of the few at the screening - or maybe I sat in the wrong part of the theatre?

On knowing somone

Elly Ameling with Rudolf Jansen performing Poulenc's setting of Vilmorin's C'est ainsi que tu es

Voilà, c’est ton portrait,
C’est ainsi que tu es.
Et je veux te l’écrire
Pour que la nuit venue
Tu puisses croire et dire
Que je t’ai bien connue

A crying shame

(not reall!) A French morning - seeing (again) The Class (Entre Les Murs). This is the trailer - unfortunately no subtitles - but it's worth watching - there are trailers with subtitles on youtube but with less good extracts!

It is very much a reflection on communication, the different ways the adults and 14 year-olds (from particular cultures) interpret various words - shame, respect,'petasse' - divided by a - more of less common - language. Definitely worth re-watching!

Teaser Tuesday - 7 April

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

- Vous êtes un vieux salaud, oui.
- Absolument pas, déclara le type avec une véhémence qui étonna Zazie.

I think I'd better attempt a translation:

'You're a real dirty old man'
'Certainly not, said the guy with a force which astonished Zazie.

As I've blogged here, I'm reading Queneau's 'Zazie dans le métro' - 50 years old this year. I'm currantly finding spotting the buns a little difficult. Knowing the film well has been a great help though!