provence at the movies

representing provence on film seems to be done better by the french than by the anglos, i feel the anglo filmmakers are like kids at a sweet shop they don't know what to choose and miss out on the best .though i do have a theory the locals don't share the best with outsiders. for any one wanting to penetrate provence they could do worse than see jean de florette and manon de source,and the gloire de mon pere , the latter is focused on the early life of author and film director pagnol. gloire filmed on the plateau above the masif de garlaban is a must to see as it captures the essence of the country sides especially its more ferocious aspects .then there is the marseille trilogy again by pagnol, and the powerful hussar su la toit, set in cholera ridden countryside and inspired by the work of giono whose writings focus on the harsh realities of life in land and mountainous provence. with a certain sense of guilt i also enjoyed the joshua logan take on the marseille trilogy fanny. filmed in Marseilles by an American company it really caught the whiff of the waterfront. though the casting of septegangrian maurice chavalier as rival of 4o years younger and very handsome horst bucholz stretched credibility some what.to be avoided the BBC series a year in provence the leads were the toally charmless lindsay duncan and john thaw ,it failed to tick any of the necessary boxes and was rightfully a complete disaster read .to cap it all a good year aridely scott movie lumbered with his fatal attraction russel crowe and marian cotlliard rolled out the cliches- proving that neither were really starry enough to truimph over a terrible script . don't film what you don't know about is the axiom that has been ignored here. there are three versions of the count of monte christo. i never pass the ans de catalans without thinking edmund dantes and Mercedes. there is robert donat version 1936 which is a worthy attempt, the gerard depardiueu version the right side of ok and filmed around la coitat. the jim cavziel latest attempt is too sadistic and hampered by weak performances and a total lack of charm .if there are any more titles to add to these let us know provence should be a more fruitful source than it is .it is quite amazing so few movies have really captured the essence of this cold land with a hot sun

la lumière bleue de l'Hiver

L'automne ouvre ses portes mais on sent dans l'air venir sur nous le fleuve froid des mois d'Hiver. Le mistral y est pour quelque chose, la pluie automnale aussi. Un je ne sais quoi nostalgique montre le corps mort de l'été, et tous nous l'attendons ressuscité dans plusieurs mois. Il vaut mieux désormais louer l'humidité, lui rendre presqu'hommage car elle sera notre compagne pour bien des traversées quotidiennes.


"Observe lentement
Là tout bas
La bleuissante
Lumière d’hiver
Disons hiver comme son prénom
S’il s’agissait d’un cavalier étêté
De lumière son grand corps carapacé
Le voilà fracassé le long des demeures
Du boulevard
Et de son cou tout azuré presque blanc
Coule à grand flot les sonores blafardes
Flottant alors dans l’air brutal
Les rémanences désarmées
Qui suivant sans luire
Au matin permanent"

mistral

mistral is many things in provence - a searching wind that comes from the north down the rhone valley to fan out between montpelier and frejus .in the summer it is sometimes a relief from the heat. in the winter it brings cold weather makes the pines used as protection bend and sway. it makes a special roaring sound that is unmistsakable. just like a giants breath. once upon a time in provence any one who comitted a murder during a mistral was considered to have dimished responsiblity. this is a wind that rattles shutters ,sends plant pots and tiles flying, it pentrates houses with its searching fingers ,and drives the faint hearted to live else where. but it is also the soul of provence and the name taken by one of provences greatest poets frederic mistral .there are statues to him every where as he revived the provencal language with his fellow poets the brotherhood of the felibrige .together they preserved provence's identity without resorting to politics. the renaissance provencal also included ceramics and literatute. it oversaw the development of the marseille school of painting ,cezanne, and it lured van gogh and gaugin south ., the mistral maybe a trial but has also made the people of provence what they are ,tough ,humerous, loyal. provence is a cold country with a hot sun ,a calm place with fierce wind .the mistral is a torment it is also part of the provencal soul. for me the mistral is represented by the blueness of the sky ,the firece eye of heaven, sea turning the colour of crushed purple grapes and time when the maniacs light fires . there are no half measures during a mistral. many authors have described it everyone form colette to pagnol and guino , pagnol descibed it thus--------------------------------------------------------------------.un petit mistral est ne dans le nuit.il ne fait pas beaucoup de bruit,les feuilles frissonnent a peine.on dirait qu'il ne sert a rien,qu'a fair briller les etoiles- et puis tout a coup,quand l'aube se leve il pousse un grand cri de sauvage,et commence a chasseur des troupeaux de chenes - -there is an excellent anthology of the mistral by bernard mondon and steffen lipp published by equinoxe and available on amazon with illustrations ,information and poems in fact everything you need to know

education and the lack of it

it seems an eton education carries the stigma of elitism and being out of touch. we have a home secretary alan johnson who has no O levels in fact no qualifications at all, other than that he climbed the greasy poll that is the trade union movement, the land of dopped H,s and no tenses .his display on question time was the worst sort of egalitarian phoney performance it was possible to see. he made snide asides at his tory and lib dem counterparts , until it was revealed by the chairman of the show he claimed more for food 200 per month than either of the others , which of course closed his mouth temporarily at least. then came aFghanistan with no historical studies he is therefore like A parrot, a talking head ,repeating what the party line tells him to . firstly there have been 4 failed wars in afghanistan and the nonsense its keeping our streets safer is belied by the way the ira freely picked out tragets on the mainland . and as usual this government cant add up 230 of our uk citizens are dead in afghanistan 52 in the uk. this drip drip of casualties doesnt add up to any one but the vaucus politicians like johnson who dont care a damn about the armed forces .i make no apologies for despising someone who didnt bother to get an education but aspires to high office .he had difficult life when he was young, well so did a lot of other people where i came from and they saw education as their salvation . education versus crawling through trade unuion corridors i know which one id settle for and respect

sarkos follies

jean arkozy 23 is being proposed as the new director of the financial heart of paris la defense which is currently running a 200 millon deficit , the cry of nepotism disgrace rings thoughout the land .taller by 10 inches and better looking than his father he is the second son of his first marriage .the president supports his son it is said ,out of a sense of guilt rather than enthusiasm. guilt over the collapse of his first marriage, the result of betrayal by his wifes best friend celine who ran off with sarko .celine went on to dump sarko publically thinking she'd scored some sort of victory until chanteuse cara bruni came along to best her. zut alors !ambitious sons , jealous wives ,revenge, passion ,guilt ,sex, nepotism ,you couldn't make it up the only hope is jean sarko at 23 hasn't yet been corrupted by power, sex and money and will be a can do in a world of negativity .when they make the film casting will be interesting. sarko juinor was seated next to louis garrel at a recent fashion show in paris perhaps casting talks are already in progess

whats happening

in england , were about to sell off national assets to raise money to support the brown government its main supporters fantaical kama khazi champagne socialists who dont mind what they sell off to stay in power, the channel tunnel,the national tote what next nelsons column the national gallery,the white cliffs of dover stone henge piece by piece , vera lynn ,keira knightly where does this stop,when you start digging the ground from uder your feet .not since the war have we had to even think of this. everyone knows that once the family silver is gone whats next. i for one will fight any attempt to flog off our national heritage to the highest bidder

big mac

the news that the icon of french culture the louvre is to be invaded by the macdonalds is being viewed with alarm in france , and so it should be. this is a sign of capitulation before the american cultural juggernaut .french cooking that gave us everything from escoffier to novelle cuisine is being beaten down by the big mac. bistros and restaurants are closing by the score the general standard of food has plummeted as establishments try to keep pace with americanisation . france has a greater up take of macdonalds than any other country outside the u.s.in england the resurgence of cooking has beaten this back -in bristol you can eat at half the price of a french equivalent in least six good restaurants likewise in london. the effect in france is more than cultural , an an increase in body size is suddenly apparent. the mac is part of an alien culture ,no knives and forks required ,no finesse and 540n calories per burger .food taken on the hoof means, no converstion no relaxation, no flirtation, everything the french meal is about ,is going to be lost and for what, .wake up france strike back before its too late

Le corps lumineux de ma Dame

La théâtralité de la féminité représentée dans le mouvement préraphaélite n'est pas une caricature du désir mais bien le fondement du rapport entre la nature et la culture. Un point évident et sublime. Cela mérite hommage ironique.



"Pastiche

Surgissant d’infortunes
Ô ma belle et sombre
Voilà de ta bouche s’iriser
Des brassées d’aubépines
De laurier de blanches roses
C’est ainsi que nous visitons
Les jachères désormais cultivées
Dans le vent qui punit tu as
Jeté l’ambitieuse palabre de ton
Corps de tes cheveux à droite
Lentement le poison des rivières
vaniteux"

preconceptions

preconceived ideas dont emerge from nowhere ,as far as american culture is concerned i have plenty . the country that gave us macdonalds ,starbucks ,the obesity crisis ,president bush , are the worlds greatest polluters per head of population and who assume they can have whatever they want whenever they want it, dont exactly elicit love. ive also loathed the dumbing down of childhood classics too, the jungle book, peter pan ,robin hood, cinderella , even notre dame de paris via disney .so i watched jonathan woss reluctantly ,i never watch wossy unless its someone i want so see . on friday it was another no no for me ,the so identifiably show biz U.S, barbra striesand . i had a hard day was too tired to resist and what did i see, a very laid back lady ,giving a masterly rendition of jacques brel's ne me quitte pas, partly sung in french . it was one of the best interpretations ive ever heard of this timeless song this side of scott walker and the great man himself . had i let my prejudices warn me off ,i would have missed a demonstration of the fact that a great song and a fine rendition can go to prove that real art can and does and triumph over any prejudice, any preconception -even mine

bravo rio

bravo rio di janiero for snatching away the olympics from chicago. its been a bad week for the international wags, sarah brown giving away too much detail about her husband at the labour party conference and michele obama too emotional and actressy at the olympic bid in denmark. we also support marseille in its bid for city of culture and suggest should france decide to bid again that marseille would be a winning alternative to paris

using the media

in france the devillepin trial continues,who said what, who forged what in contention,de villepin is damaged but so is sarkozy, france needs government by adults not quarreling schoolboys .in england we have gordon brown annoyed that questions of his health are raised ,yet his wife arrives at conference to reveal that he is noisy messy and also by the sound of it an obsessive with a one track mind.once again this is a politician who wants it both ways ,press releases that suit him and a ban on those that don't .his bullying performances with interviewers this Week shows a lack of maturity and instability in a man who is supposed to show an example .there has been so much spin that no one believes anything anymore. the last ten years of politics has seen the manipulation of the media grow the disinterest of t voters shows mr brown and the rest of his self serving crew that we are not fools