Elle ne porte pas sa foi comme un étendard dis l’article  dans Le Parisien du 18 novembre.

Ah oui ? Alors pourquoi faut-il donc qu’elle nous casse les burnes avec le fait d’être “musulmane pratiquante” et “fière de sa religion” ?
Il n’y a jamais eu de candidate au titre de Miss France qui nous les ai brisées menu-menu avec sa fierté d’être catholique, protestante, boudhiste, raëlienne ou je ne sais quoi d’autre parmi les diverses superstitions à disposition sur notre planète. Cette candidate là est musulmane et, comme par hasard, il lui faut nous baratiner sur le sujet…

Son imam lui a dit : « Profites-en ». Qui veut d’une représentante de la France qui soit sous la coupe d’une imam ? Sans compter le gros problème qu’étant musulmane, elle ne peut pas boire de champagne, et encore moins faire honneur aux grands crus de nos vignobles. Une représentante de la France qui dédaigne champagne et grands vins… c’est nos producteurs qui vont être contents !

Passons pudiquement sur le fait qu’elle ne pourra pas non plus faire honneur à toute la gamme de nos charcuteries. Décidemment la gamme des produits Français que cette Miss pourrait promouvoir s’amenuise au fur et à mesure que l’on se penche sur son cas.

Elle déclare aussi : « J’ai lu le Coran et la Bible. J’ai été plus attirée par le Coran. » Ah bon ? Soit elle ne sait pas lire soit elle ment quand elle dit avoir lu le coran, parce que plus anti-féministe, macho et patriarcal que le Coran, yapa ! Ou alors elle est maso, tous les goûts étant dans la nature.
Sur le port du voile, elle refuse de juger. Pourtant le coran est très clair et ordonne le voile à la sourate 33 verset 57 (ou 59 selon les traductions), la longueur étant seulement fonction de ce que les musulmans sont capables d’imposer en fonction de leur rapport de force avec le pouvoir politique local.

Pour ne pas être en reste, l’organisatrice du concours, Genevieve de Fontenay, nous en tartine une deuxième couche dans La Dépêche du Midi du 27 novembre :
une Miss France qui se prénommerait Fatima ou Khadija serait un bien beau symbole.
Mais, chère madame au chapeau, il n’y a aucun problème à ce qu’une Miss France s’appelle Fatima ou Khadija, en revanche il y en a un, et UN GROS, à ce qu’elle se revendique musulmane pratiquante : une Miss France psychologiquement inféodée à un barbu coranisé, incapable d’assurer la promotion de tous les produits du terroir… Hé ho, ça va pas bien dans la caboche sous le chapeau, non ?!

Auto-produire la carte postale ci-dessous et l’envoyer aux destinataires (indiqués plus loin) pour leur remettre les idées en place.

en .jpg (à l’envers) – 262 ko
1500×1000 pix.

L’élection de Miss France 2010 aura lieu le 5 décembre 2009 à Nice au Palais Nikaïa. Le délai est serré pour faire connaître par carte postale aux organistaeurs vos sentiments sur l’élection d’une Miss Francoran mais cela reste faisable.
Vous trouverez l’adresse du comité Miss France au bas de la page “Entrez” du Site Officiel du Comité Miss France (qui est aussi celle du Fan-Club de Geneviève de Fontenay) :

ww.genevievedefontenay.com

Vous pouvez au choix écrire au comité ou au fan club, de telle sorte que toute la clique soit mise au courant des légères réticences à voir une france représentée par un coran en jupon.
Si vous participez tardivement, envoyer votre carte directement au Palais Nikaïa de Nice.

Jeune vieille de Fontennay (94120)

Quel que soit le résultat (et à plus forte raison si le matraquage médiatique est assez puissant pour provoquer l’élection d’une miss Francarabia), par la suite vous pourrez continuer à envoyer la carte aux adresses “Miss France” afin soit d’éviter qu’une telle dhimmitude se reproduise ou au contraire confirmer qu’une coranisée du bulbe n’a pas sa place sur le podium (que ce soit tout en haut ou même parmi les dauphines).
Pour le fun, vous pourrez aussi tenter de faire couiner les grandes organisations bisounours pro-islam SOS-Racisme, la HALDE, et le MRAP en leur envoyant aussi la carte postale.

En plus d’envoyer votre carte postale, vous pouvez contribuer à ce que d’autres en envoient. Amorcez l’avalanche en copiant-collant le message ci-dessous à vos contacts et dans tous les blogs, forums etc. relatifs au sujet :

Miss Francarabia ? Non Merci ! Si vous ne voulez pas d’une France inféodée à l’islam, d’une France où champagne et vin seraient interdits, où le saucisson serait interdit, où finalement tout ce qui fait la France serait interdit, alors dite NON à une miss France coranisée. http://tinyurl.com/missfrancarabia Merci de diffuser cet appel à vos contacts et dans tous les blogs, forums etc. relatifs au sujet.

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So while I was quite groggy and still waking from a nap, Andreas directed me to this blog about Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film, La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) and was just so thrown by the utter lack of research and critical analysis that I started to write a comment. Which became incredibly lengthy so I have decided to turn it into a blog and then will just link it back to the guy’s blog. So let’s begin. I highly suggest you go read his actual blog but for those of you who don’t, I’ll copy some of his “analysis” here and go point by point:

The story is very much the same that as the Disney version, except of course that it doesn’t have a happy ending….there are some new characters; Beauty (yes, that’s her name, what pretentious father would call his daughter this?) has some truly obnoxious and annoying sisters, which I suppose are supposed to be funny….they are a weak spot of the film, but even more annoyingly so, they are important to the narrative, so one couldn’t have cut them out, damn!

First of all, let’s talk about the actual fairy tale. Beauty and the Beast has been around since around 1740 or so; the sisters, who were so annoying to this blogger, were in the original tale and in almost every other adaption I’ve seen/read they’ve been there. I don’t feel that they are meant to “be funny”. I think they are meant to create a contrast between the true beauty of Belle’s character (which has always been her name and was her name in the Cocteau version; the subtitles translate it to “beauty” because that is what “la belle” means in French. So that’s her name in ALL the versions, hence the lyric in the Disney version: “It’s no wonder that her name means beauty.” Guess her father was pretentious in all the versions) with the hideous greediness of her sisters. And what is this about there not being a happy ending? The Beast lives in both versions and he and Belle are happily together. Did he not watch the end of the film properly?

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!  This is in French with no subtitles but you don’t really need them:

For one, I was actually more scared by the Disney version of the Beast than in this film. Well, it’s really a no-brainer, in the Disney film he moves and roars like a lion, and is seriously threatening. In this, it’s some guy in a suit speaking not so threatening polite French. Ok, so that element was gone, but what was cool was the absurdity of his castle, with live hands holding the candles in the corridors and faces in the walls, but they never speak, they are just silent and watch, which is quite freaky

I’ll agree that the Beast was far more ‘beastly’ and animalistic in the Disney version but other than the opening scenes where we first see him, which are intended to create an atmosphere of fear, I don’t remember being afraid of the Beast. Because fear is completely subjective: while one person is afraid of the Beast from the ‘91 version, another would be far more unsettled by the creepy visuals that were mentioned in the Cocteau version.

And the Beast doesn’t exist to just be some scary thing; he’s supposed to represent this tortured soul who has lost his humanity and all contact with human life, which is frightening in a completely different way. And I would say that, for me anyway, the Cocteau versions wins that out.

One of this guy’s biggest gripes with this film was the supposed non-development of the relationship between Beast and Belle:

Jean Cocteau said that he never considered himself a filmmaker, and I believe him (note: yeah, he seriously just said that), because this film has many narrative flaws, most prominently; why the hell does Beauty end up loving the Beast. It is never properly explored, I guess it is because at some point he proves he loves her, but is that really enough?

To this I have to say: are you fucking kidding me? First of all, don’t even get me started on relationships in Disney films. Just…no. It’s topic that could easily erupt into its own blog. And okay, granted I haven’t watched the Disney version in a few years but I spent almost every day of my early childhood watching it so I remember it pretty well. Let’s talk about the relationship between Belle and Beast in that film, shall we? In both versions, he starts out as a scaryish, not-nice fellow, who demands that someone stay behind. Jerk move. After this, things start to divide between the films. Practically half of the Disney film is dedicated to Beast being a borderline sociopathic, abusive ass; if his personality from the first part of the film were to translate into a real life person he would probably be the kind of guy who obsessively controls and mentally abuses his partner.

But then things change because, ‘OH, Beast, you saved me from the wolves, that totally negates all the horrible things you did before! Like kidnapping me and using fear to control me!’ Those aren’t the roots of a good relationship and the recovery of this relationship isn’t explored anymore than, well, he saves her and then we have a song and montage of them doing cute things together. Here, look for yourself:

Yes, there is some development there, we see his transition from beastly abuser to kind human happening but still, it’s not deeply explored. In the Cocteau version, after his initial mercilessness (which comparatively isn’t as ruthless: Cocteau’s Beast gave Belle’s father a choice AND a horse to find his way back. Disney’s Beast locked him up while he was sick, and kept him there until Belle found him. Then he just tossed him into a wooden spider contraption [which was a very awesome visual, mind you] to be taken back to town) the Beast is consistently kinder and gentler than the Disney version. There is no power play, no fear controlling, no threatening. I won’t say that the development of their relationship is perfect in the Cocteau version but I will say that their love makes more sense to me.

….what is interesting is that the character that is the most similar…to the same character in the Disney film is the human guy who loves Beauty. In the Disney film he was pretty cartoonish, but too my astonishment, he is exactly the same in this French black and white art film as he was in the Disney version.

“The guy” that he is referring to is the Avenant/Gaston character and I’m pretty much using this opportunity to talk about Gaston. I noticed lots of similarities between these two as well, which makes sense seeing as they’re pretty much the same character. This character is absent in the original fairy tale and as far as I know, made his first appearance in the Cocteau version. I think I’ve mentioned before about how much I have always utterly hated Gaston but if not: I fucking hate Gaston. For as long as I can remember I have hated Gaston. Which is appropriate because I believe he is a character who is supposed to be hated. There’s nothing redeeming about him. He’s rude, misogynistic, boorish and as Belle so eloquently puts it, “positively primeval”. I hated him because I was a young girl with wily thoughts and I related to Belle more than any other Disney heroine; she read books, just like me! She walked around with her nose perpetually hidden in books, just like me! She loved bookstores, just like me! And she hated being condescended to by assholes who thought they knew what was good for her, just like me! She wanted more out of life than to be stuck in some dinky little town, just like me (eventually)! But so anyway, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Avenant and Gaston are EXACTLY the same. There are more prevalent themes of greed in Cocteau’s version and Avenant plays a large role in that. But they are more or less the same character.

Overall, I feel like trying to compare these two films is ultimately futile. Yes, they tell the same basic story but they are vastly different films and have different purposes and are aimed at completely different demographics. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast came after the “Disney Renaissance”, after The Little Mermaid when adapting old fairy tales into animated films had come back into popularity and was lucrative. It’s meant as a children’s movie, despite some of the mildly darker elements. Cocteau’s film is more surreal fantasy, an entrance to an ethereal world where Jean Marais’s gentle Beast and his attempts to reach out to Belle shows the torment and isolation he has endured while cut off from humanity; it conveys deeper, more adult fears and anxieties.  It is a world where you don’t need singing silverware to create an element of enchantment.

“the grabbing hands grab all they can“

.josette day and the walls of arms in the 1946 film la belle et la bête (beauty and the beast) directed by jean cocteau.

.catherine deneuve and the hall of arms in the 1965 film repulsion directed by roman polanski.

.cover art for the 1981 ultravox single the thin wall from the album rage in eden.

.lori cardille and the wall of arms in the 1985 film day of the dead directed by george a. romero.

.jennifer connelly and the helping hands in the 1986 film labyrinth directed by jim henson.

.ave maria circa 2007 by maurizio cattelan.

.hand in the wall at madame tussauds wax museum.

LA BELLE

Elsie Lefebvre *BAVE* C’est pas qu’elle se présente aux élections municipale comme conseillère là! Anyways, elle se présenterait même pour les conservateurs de Harper que je voterais pour elle (Call me influençable). Elle est tellement jolie. ELSIE JE T’AIME!!!

LA BÊTE

Le frisé dans les annonces de Rogers Sans fil… Il me fait peur ce gars là. Moi j’suis certain qu’un moment donné il va piquer une crise de jalousie envers l’autre gars dans les annonces parce qu’il colle plus souvent la poupounne. Va sûrement sortir une hache pis le décapiter…

Asteure à votre tour, partagez vos choix!

Les lignes qui vont suivre ont toutes les chances d’être mal comprises. Ce qui relève du merveilleux (une déclinaison originale de la belle et la bête) sera tenu pour subversif – subversif d’autant moins séduisant qu’inscrit en milieu rural, avec son visage  trivial et trop familier, il risquera de rebuter. Pour réajuster, on évoquera le côté “cinéma d’aventure”. Après tout, le film s’intitule Le roi de l’évasion. Mais il faudra admettre que le fugitif est loin de ressembler à James Bond, qu’il pèse plus de cent kilos et n’est, la plupart du temps, vêtu que d’un slip… Et ainsi de  suite jusqu’au bout :  de quelque façon que l’on présente le dernier film de Guiraudie, il passera pour être le méchant contraire de choses très naïves et très jolies : l’amour entre une jeune fille de seize ans et un homme de quarante, qui fait trois fois son âge en kilos et est, de surcroît, résolument homosexuel.

Essayons néanmoins de raconter cette histoire avec toute la simplicité qu’elle mérite. Ça se passe à la campagne, pas loin de Toulouse. Non, non ! pas cette campagne idyllique grillonnante, et fruitée qui sent bon la piscine et les résidences secondaires : ici c’est la campagne verte et grise de morne agriculture, où l’on s’ennuie, tant bien que mal, à travailler pour mériter sa sieste puis son pastis au bistrot poussiéreux. Le héros c’est Armand, il n’est ni mince ni jeune ni extrêmement intelligent ni formidablement drôle pas même naturellement hétérosexuel. Il vend des tracteurs, avec beaucoup de tendresse pour ses clients vieux garçons qui vivent encore chez leur maman, il s’entretient en faisant du vélo et en panachant les charcuteries avec les fritures. Par hasard, et dans des circonstances très peu valorisantes, il délivre une jeune fille de la racaille urbaine en flagrante transgression de couvre-feu. Curly ( Hafsia Herzi / La graine et le mulet) a seize ans, elle est ravissante, et, bien sûr, elle s’éprend aussitôt de son sauveur. Même pour un homosexuel endurci, difficile de résister au charme et à la sensualité de Curly ! Surtout qu’il faut la disputer à son père, concurrent sur le marché des tracteurs ! Pourquoi cette enfant délurée ne serait-elle pas une alternative ?  Le quotidien atone de l’homosexuel fatigué qui, entre deux ventes, paie pour se soulager dans un parking, finit par ne plus répondre à la prétendue liberté qui le motive.  Armand entraîne Curly qui l’entraîne à son tour dans une course folle, débraillée et débridée, une pantalonnade à l’énergie magique d’un tubercule cultivé en secret dans les sous-bois, plus puissant que le viagra. Et vive les étreintes goulues de chairs abondantes, la lubrification optimale avec “sensation fraîcheur” (6 euros à l’Intermarché) !  On court, on couche, on court, la police est partout et nulle part, on a tous les âges, tous les physiques, tous les appétits de vivre.

Armand c’est un peu Candide, et le petit monde rural de Guiraudie est moins vilain que naïvement farce. Pas de prosélytisme homosexuel mais une dédramatisation qui ne prétend pas à grand chose. En revanche, Le roi de l’évasion taquine à tour de bras le cinéma  formaté.  Existe-t-il un public pour ce film ? Certainement pas. Je ne peux  imaginer  recommander Le roi de l’évasion à une catégorie, à un groupe, à un public. Guiraudie s’adresse à de curieux individus qui, entre deux questions assommantes probablement existentielles, se plaisent à tout envoyer au diable pour se moquer des grands principes et des petites idées.

Le roi de l’évasion, d’Alain Guiraudie, avec  Ludovic Berthillot et Hafsia Herzi – celle-ci  encore  plus impressionnante  qu’avec Kechiche.

Disponibles à la médiathèque : Pas de repos pour les braves, d’Alain Guiraudie

et La graine et le mulet, d’Abdellatif Kechiche, avec Hafsia Herzi.

I must say, this is one of the most fantastic films I have ever seen. Directed by Jean Cocteau, this 1946 classic is gorgeous. Entirely in French, of course, the sweeping costumes and sets speak for themselves (although the subtitles are a big help!). The effects, while used sparingly are very impressive especially considering the time in which it was made. The pacing is slow, but seems to have flown by once it is done. There is no wasted language. All dialogue is meaningful. It gives more background to the Disney version, and uses the classic story, but really, Disney isn’t all that far off: it just makes it a little easier for the kiddles to understand.

This film is well worth a watch. And entirely available too! Here are some links:

Amazon: La Belle et la Bete

Criterion Collection Trailer

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Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 1964 My Fair Lady – Wouldn’t It Be Loverly 1964 Zulu 1965 Darling 1965 Dr. Zhivago 1965 For A Few Dollars More 1965 Repulsion – Catherine Deneuve 1965 The Sound of Music 1966 A Man For All Seasons – Trailer 1966 Alfie 1966 Blow-up 1966 Fahrenheit 451 1966 Georgy Girl 1966 La Battaglia di Algeri 1966 Persona 1966 The Endless Summer 1966 The Good The Bad and the Ugly 1966 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf 1967 Belle de Jour – Luis Bunuel 1967 Bonnie and Clyde 1967 Cool Hand Luke – boiled eggs 1967 Far From The Madding Crowd 1967 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 1967 In the Heat of the Night – Trailer 1967 Mouchette 1967 Playtime 1967 Stop, Look and Listen 1967 The Graduate 1967 The Jungle Book – I Wanna Be Like You 1968 2001 Space Odyssey 1 – start 1968 Bullitt 1968 Carry on Up the Khyber 1968 If… 1968 Night Of the Living Dead 1968 Oliver! 1968 Once Upon a Time in the West 1968 Planet of the Apes 1968 Rosemary’s Baby 1968 The Producers – Springtime for Hitler 1968 Why Man Creates 1969 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 Easy Rider – ending 1969 Goodbye, Mr. Chips 1969 Kes – cane 1969 Midnight Cowboy – I’m walking here 1969 The Italian Job – doors 1969 The Sorrow and the Pity – bourgeois 1969 The Wild Bunch 1969 Women in Love 1970 Five Easy Pieces 1970 Love Story 1970 MASH 1970 Multiple Sidosis 1970 Patton 1971 A Clockwork Orange – droog fight 1971 A Touch Of Zen 1971 Fiddler On The Roof – To Life 1971 Get Carter 1971 Harold And Maude 1971 Shaft 1971 Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song 1971 The French Connection 1971 The Hospital 1971 The Last Picture Show 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – Pure Imagination 1972 Aguirre the Wrath of God 1972 Cabaret 1972 Deliverance – ‘Dueling banjos’ 1972 DT 1972 Frenzy 1972 Last Tango in Paris 1 1972 OffOn 1972 Sleuth 1972 Solaris 1972 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 1972 The Godfather – offer 1972 The Poseidon Adventure 1973 American Graffiti 1973 Badlands 1973 Coffy 1973 Don’t Look Now 1973 Enter the Dragon 1973 Frank Film 1973 La Nuit americaine 1973 Mean Streets 1973 Sleeper 1973 The Day of the Jackal 1973 The Exorcist – Pt.1 1973 The Sting 1973 The Wicker Man 1974 A Woman Under the Influence 1974 Blazing Saddles 1974 Chinatown 1974 Foxy Brown 1974 The Conversation 1974 The Godfather, Part II 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – ending 1974 The Towering Inferno – Trailer 1974 Young Frankenstein – Puttin’ on the Ritz 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – ending 1975 Barry Lyndon 1975 Dog Day Afternoon 1975 Flåklypa Grand Prix – 1 1975 Jaws 1975 Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 Nashville 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1975 Picnic At Hanging Rock – Trailer 1975 The Return Of The Pink Panther – Karate Kick 1975 The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Damn it Janet 1976 All the President’s Men – Trailer 1976 Car Wash 1976 Marathon Man 1976 Network 1976 Nuts in May 1976 Rocky – Adrian 1976 Taxi Driver – Talking To Me 1976 The Omen 1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976 The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1977 Abigail’s Party 1977 Annie Hall 1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 Eraserhead 1977 Killer of Sheep 1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar 1977 Powers of Ten 1977 Saturday Night Fever 1977 Soldaat van Oranje 1977 Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope – Deathstar1 1978 Dawn Of The Dead – mall 1978 DDD 1978 Every Which Way But Loose 1978 Grease – Summer Nights 1978 Halloween 1978 Midnight Express 1978 National Lampoon’s Animal House 1978 Pennies From Heaven 1978 Superman The Movie 1978 The Deer Hunter 1978 The Last Waltz – The Weight 1979 Alien 1979 All That Jazz – Bye Bye Life 1979 Apocalypse Now – Napalm in the morning 1979 Mad Max and Feral Boy 1979 Manhattan – start 1979 Monty Python’s Life of Brian 1979 Stalker – Tarkovsky 1979 Star Trek The Motion Picture 1979 The Black Stallion 1979 Woyzeck – Herzog 1980 Airplane! 1980 Atlantic City 1980 Flash Gordon 1980 Gregory’s Girl 1980 Heaven’s Gate 1980 Mon oncle d’Amerique 1980 Raging Bull 1980 Superman II 1980 The Elephant Man 1980 The Empire Strikes Back 1980 The Long Good Friday – ending 1980 The Shining – Here’s Johnny 1981 Chariots of Fire 1981 Das Boot 1981 Gallipoli 1981 Mommie Dearest 1981 Raiders Of The Lost Ark 1981 The Cannonball Run – 1 1981 The Evil Dead 1981 The Postman Always Rings Twice 1982 Blade Runner 1982 Boys from the Blackstuff 1982 Conan The Barbarian 1982 ET 1982 Fast Times At Ridgemont High 1982 First Blood 1982 Fitzcarraldo 1982 Gandhi 1982 Koyaanisqatsi 1982 Made in Britain 1982 Poltergeist 1982 Porky’s 1982 Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman 1982 Sophie’s Choice 1982 Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan 1982 The Draughtsman’s Contract 1982 The Thing 1982 The Thing 1983 A Christmas Story – Oh, Fuuudge 1983 Return of The Jedi 1983 Scarface 1983 Terms of Endearment 1983 The King of Comedy 1983 Trading Places 1983 WarGames 1984 1984 1984 A Passage To India 1984 Amadeus 1984 Dune 1984 Ghostbusters 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1984 Once Upon A Time In America 1984 Paris, Texas 1984 Police Academy 1984 Repo Man 1984 Stop Making Sense 1984 Stranger Than Paradise 1984 Supergirl 1984 The Karate Kid 1984 The Killing Fields 1984 The Never Ending Story – Trailer 1984 The Terminator 1984 This is Spinal Tap 1985 After Hours 1985 Back to the Future 1985 Brazil 1985 Clue 1985 My Beautiful Laundrette 1985 Out of Africa 1985 Ran 1985 Teen Wolf 1985 The Black Cauldron 1985 The Breakfast Club – dancing 1985 The Color Purple 1985 The Goonies 1985 The Official Story 1985 Weird Science 1985 Witness 1985 Young Sherlock Holmes 1986 9 1-2 Weeks 1986 A Better Tomorrow 1986 A Room with a View 1986 Betty Blue 1986 Big Trouble In Little China 1986 Blue Velvet – start 1986 Caravaggio – Derek Jarman 1986 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 1986 Flight of the Navigator 1986 Hannah and Her Sisters 1986 Hoosiers 1986 Jean de Florette 1986 Labyrinth 1986 Little Shop of Horrors 1986 Manon des Sources 1986 Mona Lisa 1986 Platoon 1986 Rita, Sue and Bob Too – Bananarama 1986 Short Circuit – Trailer 1986 Stand By Me – 1 1986 The Fly 1986 The Money Pit 1986 The Name of The Rose 1986 The Singing Detective 1986 Top Gun 1986 When the Wind Blows 1987 Der Himmel über Berlin Wings of Desire 1987 Dirty Dancing 1987 Fatal Attraction 1987 Full Metal Jacket – drill sergeant 1987 Harry and the Hendersons 1987 Naayagan 1987 Planes, Trains and Automobiles – waking up 1987 Robocop 1987 The Last Emperor 1987 The Princess Bride 1987 The Untouchables 1987 The Witches of Eastwick 1987 Throw Momma from the Train 1987 Withnail and I – Camberwell carrot 1988 A Fish Called Wanda 1988 Akira 1988 Big 1988 Child’s Play 1988 Coming to America – bride 1988 Dangerous Liaisons 1988 Die Hard 1988 Distant Voices, Still Lives – Trailer 1988 Mississippi Burning 1988 Rain Man 1988 The Accused – lawyer 1988 The Last Temptation Of Christ 1988 The Naked Gun 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1989 Back to the Future II 1989 Batman 1989 Born on the Fourth of July 1989 Cinema Paradiso clip 1989 Dead Poets Society – ending 1989 Do The Right Thing – 1 1989 Glory 1989 Henry V 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 My Left Foot 1989 Sex, Lies and Videotape 1989 Uncle Buck 1989 Weekend at Bernie’s 1990 Back To The Future III 1990 Dances With Wolves 1990 Edward Scissorhands 1990 Ghost 1990 Goodfellas 1990 Home Alone 1990 Miller’s Crossing 1990 Nuns on the Run 1990 Pretty Woman 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 The Hunt for Red October 1991 Beauty and the Beast 1991 Boyz n the Hood 1991 Cape Fear 1991 Daughters of The Dust 1991 Delicatessen clip 1991 Fried Green Tomatoes 1991 Robin Hood Prince of Thieves 1991 Terminator 2 1991 The Commitments 1991 The Silence of the Lambs – fava beans 1991 Thelma and Louise 1992 A Few Good Men 1992 El Mariachi 1992 Home Alone 2 1992 Howards End 1992 Leolo 1992 Malcolm X 1992 Peter’s Friends – song 1992 Reservoir Dogs 1992 The Bodyguard 1992 The Crying Game 1992 The Last of the Mohicans 1992 The Player – Trailer 1992 Unforgiven 1993 Carlito’s Way 1993 Falling Down 1993 Farewell My Concubinet 1993 Groundhog Day 1993 In the Name of the Father 1993 Jurassic Park 1993 Naked 1993 Philadelphia 1993 Schindler’s List 1993 The Fugitive 1993 The Piano 1993 The Remains of the Day 1993 The Wrong Trousers 1993 Three Colours Blue 1993 What’s Eating Gilbert Grape 1994 Chungking Express 1994 Clerks – corpse 1994 Drunken Master II – Final Fight Scene (Part 1 of 2) 1994 Ed Wood 1994 Forrest Gump 1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral 1994 Il postino 1994 Leon The Professional 1994 Muriel’s Wedding 1994 Pulp Fiction – dancing 1994 The Madness Of King George 1994 The Shawshank Redemption 1995 Braveheart 1995 Heat 1995 La Haine 1995 Nine Months 1995 Richard III 1995 Se7en 1995 Sense and Sensibility 1995 The Usual Suspects 1995 The White Balloon 1995 Toy Story 1995 Twelve Monkeys 1996 Brassed Off 1996 Fargo 1996 Jerry Maguire 1996 Romeo and Juliet 1996 Secrets and Lies 1996 Shine 1996 The English Patient 1996 Trainspotting 1997 As Good as It Gets 1997 Boogie Nights 1997 Good Will Hunting 1997 L.A. Confidential 1997 La Vita è blla 1997 Nil By Mouth 1997 The Full Monty – ending 1997 Titanic 1997 Waiting for Guffman 1998 American History X 1998 Elizabeth 1998 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 1998 Festen 1998 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 1998 Lola Rennt 1998 Rushmore 1998 Saving Private Ryan – D-day Scene (1-4) 1998 Taxi 1998 The Big Lebowski 1998 The Truman Show 1999 American Beauty 1999 Being John Malkovich 1999 Fight Club 1999 Magnolia 1999 Office Space – 1 1999 The Green Mile 1999 The Matrix 1999 The Sixth Sense 2000 Amores Perros 2000 Billy Elliot 2000 Chocolat 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000 Dancer in the Dark 2000 Erin Brockovich 2000 Gladiator 2000 Meet the Parents 2000 Memento 2000 Quills 2001 Amelie 2001 Donnie Darko 2001 Kandahar 2001 Legally Blonde 2001 Lord Of The Rings 2001 No Man’s Land 2001 The Royal Tenenbaums 2001 Wit 2002 Bowling for Columbine 2002 Chicago 2002 City of God 2002 Dirty Pretty Things 2002 Spider-Man 2002 Spirited Away 2002 Talk to Her 2002 The Magdalene Sisters 2002 The Pianist 2003 Finding Nemo 2003 Lost in Translation 2003 Monster 2003 Oldboy 2004 Crash 2004 Der Untergang 2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 2004 Gegen die Wand 2004 Hotel Rwanda 2004 Million Dollar Baby 2004 Napoleon Dynamite 2004 Shaun Of The Dead 2004 Sideways – Trailer 2004 Tropical Malady 2005 Brokeback Mountain 2005 Good Night, And Good Luck 2005 March of the Penguinsm – Trailer 2005 The Tulse Luper Suitcases 2005 V for Vendetta 2006 Borat – Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2006 Lage Raho Munna Bhai 2006 Little Miss Sunshine 2006 The Lives Of Others

I was just thinking about the movie that I had to watch for my Freaks and Monsters class.  The movie that I had to watch was the 1946 Jean Cocteau La Belle et La Bête.  Anyway, my teacher was saying that some elements never change in terms of stories, movies, etc.  So after she had us watch the movie, she brought the arms that hold up the candelabras.  That made me immediately think of the 2004 movie version of Phantom of the Opera because of the arm candelabras that were during the song The Phantom of the Opera. Anyway, I just found that to be interesting because the whole some elements never change things applies.  The connection is that both movies have the arm candelabras.  Oh, you don’t have to watch the entire clip from La Belle et La Bête.  The scene with the candelabras is at the beginning of the clip.

13h04

J’ai passé la semaine à me plaindre alala j’ai trop de trucs à faire, je suis débordée, big up stakhanov, j’en peux plus, je veux mourir, vivement samedi. 

On est samedi.

Ouais !

Trop cool.

Ouais…

(…)

Je m’ennuie.

Pour ne pas sombrer complètement dans le désespoir, je vais live-bloguer.

13h29

Ca y est, j’ai trouvé une activité très saine : j’espionne mes voisins. 

Ca fait bien 8 minutes qu’il est là. Il vient de finir sa clope. L’encadrement de la fenêtre correspond exactement à sa carrure : ça me fascine.

13h34

Ca me fascine, mais pas assez longtemps.

Tiens, je vais inventer une histoire (il paraît que s’ennuyer développe la créativité. Bon.) 

Il était une fois un petit monsieur moustachu, qui s’appelait Wenceslas. Wenceslas hésitait à raser sa moustache, parce qu’elle le définissait en tant qu’individu appartenant à une communauté : les porteurs de moustaches. Il se trouve que Wenceslas n’appartenait à aucune autre communauté. Wenceslas n’était pas noir, pas homosexuel, pas geek, pas croyant, pas politisé, pas végétarien… Il n’avait que sa moustache pour faire de lui le membre d’un groupe et se sentir moins seul.

Pourtant, un jour, il décida de la raser. 

Depuis, il contemple le monde par la fenêtre.

Ok, je m’ennuie vraiment, genre sans espoir de me re divertir un jour. 

13h50

Il pleut.

Wenceslas a fermé la fenêtre.

C’est triste, cette fenêtre fermée. Ca m’affecte beaucoup. 

14h10

Il ne pleut plus.

Je m’ennuie. Je m’ennuie. Je m’ennuie.

Je pourrais m’installer à la terrasse d’un café, avec des copines, leur raconter ma vie. Ma vie, dans laquelle il ne se passe rien. Ou faire un crumble aux pommes. Mais j’ai pas de pommes. Ou aller dépenser de l’argent dans les magasins (j’ai plus un rond, mais mon cerveau ne fait pas le lien entre “pas d’argent” et “pas de vêtement”). Han, j’ai une idée qui va bien m’occuper 1/4h… Un dessin !

15h20 

Oh, putain, ça m’a quand même pris 1h10 de dessiner ça.

Je crois que j’ai un problème avec l’art en général.

Pourtant, longtemps, j’ai été convaincue que je serai une artiste.

(Chanteuse, j’ai abandonné très vite. Le prof de musique du collège avait monté une comédie musicale : La Belle et la Bête. J’avais passé le casting. Je rêvais de jouer la Belle et j’avais été prise.

Dans le rôle d’une fourchette.

Bon, mais j’étais contente quand même. J’allais chanter dans les choeurs. Le jour du spectacle, le prof est venu me voir, pour m’expliquer que je pouvais chanter, si je voulais, mais qu’ils allaient couper mon micro. Je vous jure que je n’invente rien).   

Il me restait l’espoir d’être romancière… Enfin ça, c’était avant Wenceslas.

16h32

Mon téléphone sonne. Ah, cool, j’ai des amis.

Ah, non.

Je réponds pas.

Je regarde le trailer de Twilight 2 sur internet. Je kiffe grave Kristen Stewart. Tiens, ça me fait penser que je suis une des rares personnes que je connais (car je me classe parmi les personnes que je connais), à avoir aimé Into the wild. Han, comment j’ose pas vous dire que j’ai surtout kiffé Twilight 1. 

17h01

Texto : ”Je sais que tu veux pas répondre je lis ton blog”

Fuck. 

Sinon, pas de nouvelles de Wenceslas.

Ne vous inquiétez pas, il va probablement très bien.

17h36

Ca y est, je crois qu’on peut se rendre à l’évidence : j’ai fait le tour de tout ce que j’avais à dire (à savoir rien. J’ai épuisé l’infinité des possibles du rien. En général, quand on n’a rien à dire, mieux vaut ne pas bloguer. Mais l’idée que vous soyez tous en train de profiter de votre samedi, m’énerve. Je préfère vous imaginer morts d’ennui à la lecture de ce post.)

1946 – Dir. Jean Cocteau

I got another library card last week! I am now a patron of COA’s Thorndike Library, and the eclectic movie collection (built partially by a friend) is mine to peruse. The first item I checked out was Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast. It’s been on my list for awhile, but I specifically wanted the Criterion Collection DVD, which was not available through Netflix and cost rather a lot to buy. Why so picky? Because in addition to the movie it has Philip Glass’ opera version as an alternative soundtrack!

The movie itself is wonderful. Based on Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont’s tale, it is a fairly straightforward retelling. The only deviation from the familiar tale is that back at home Belle has a suitor who helps plot with her brother and two sisters the death of the Beast. Disney got the idea for Gaston from Cocteau’s version.

Although black and white, the movie is bursting with eye candy. The costumes are lavish and the sets elaborate, and crafted to resemble the engravings of Gustave Dore the paintings of Jan Vermeer. Josette Day, who played Belle, was indeed beautiful.

There were things that were a little odd to me and therefore mildly distracting, such as the highly dramatic style of acting, but I can’t really complain about that when so many other interesting things were going on. The enchanted castle with it’s floating arms holding candles, and the faces in the fireplace that were alive and watching were fantastic.

There was a booklet that came with the DVD which contained something that Cocteau wrote for the American release of the film (and I would quote from it directly if I hadn’t had to already return the movie…). He said something like he wanted to make the Beast so appealing and sympathetic that when he was transformed into the handsome prince, it would be almost disappointing. He did this in his film particularly effectively by making the prince look exactly like a nicer version of Belle’s offish suitor from home (Jean Marais did very well playing the whole trio!). I really responded to this, because I always feel emotionally jerked around when the Beast is transformed into someone who Belle, quite aptly, thinks will take some getting used to…!

The idea behind Philip Glass’ opera is that it is performed live while the movie is projected behind. He painstakingly timed all of the sung lines so that they synced with the filmed actors. I imagine it is very impressive when done live. Even as just an alternative soundtrack to the movie it was enjoyable. I have to add though, that I am not overly awed by Philip Glass. While interesting, his music is just a bit too repetitive for me. I am still exploring his work though, so no official opinions yet.

What I have gained from this whole experience, aside from an appreciation for the film, is a great deal of curiosity about Jean Cocteau, who was also a poet, a playwright, a novelist, and a…boxing manager?? Yes indeed, he needs a little more of my attention.

Comme d’essayer de comprendre pourquoi cette chanson me pop dans la tête sans raison particulière…

On Sunday, November 16, beginning at 5 p.m., the 119 Gallery in Lowell will host a special screening of the 1946 film La Belle et La Bete, with a live soundtrack performed by local cellist Wisteriax. Tickets, which can be purchased online through the 119 Gallery web site, are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. 

La Belle et La Bete (1946), directed by Jean Cocteau. A half-ruined merchant lives in the country with his son Ludovic and his three daughters. Two of the daughters, Felicie and Adelaide, are real shrews, selfish, pretentious, evil. They exploit the third daughter, Belle, as a servant. One day, the merchant gets lost in the forest and enters a strange castle. He picks up a rose for Belle and the castle’s owner appear. He is a monster, half-human, half-beast, and possesses magic powers. He sentences the merchant to death, unless he give up one of his daughters. Belle sacrifices herself for her father and goes to the castle, discovering that the Beast is not so wild and inhuman as it seems.

Wisteriax performs a live soundtrack. “I’ve played the cello since I was a little girl, though any of my former teachers will attest that I never studied very seriously. At some point in my college career, I wanted to join a rock band. But the only instrument I really knew how to play was cello. I soon joined forces with my first band, a dark synthpop group who did minor key versions of early 80’s tunes. I learned about how to amplify the cello to make it audible above the other instruments. But I wasn’t satisfied with that after awhile. I started borrowing guitar effects pedals to see how they would change the cello’s sound. Some worked very well, and others didn’t. I found that the more I could mutate the sound, the happier I was.”

Extrait du film La Belle et la Bête, réalisé par Jean Cocteau en 1946

Davantage d’extraits du même film d’après la sélection d’am0123 sur YouTube

Texte du conte de Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, 1757