The storm is raging outside. I am thinking of the fig tree I left on the terrace in the country house. By now the poor thing must be a wreck. I thought Spring was there. But Spring was only in the polls with rosebuds flowering again in France. By the way, the symbol of the Socialist party – a rose held in a tight fist – was created in 1969. Was not the world quite different then? I see tight fists everywhere and no time for roses…
Shit!
It is all we can say, right? Children and a teacher killed in Toulouse outside a Jewish school…. Where is the world heading?
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The Ballad of Marie Losier
French film maker Marie Losier has signed a very poetic and disturbing documentary film on Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, a leading figure of the acid house and techno scene with groups like Throbbing Gristle (1975 to 1981) and Psychic TV (1981 to present). He has become a she, not wanting to be what others wanted for him , but also by osmosis with his/her great love and wife Lady Jay who died in 2007. Together, through many operations of cosmetic surgery, they tried to resemble each other creating as a result a third human being, “their child” Breyer P-Orridge . With archives videos and present filming, with much sensitivity, Marie Losier leads us in the intimacy of these two extraordinary artists , through her lenses, transcending the trashy surroundings of underground life and creating poetry. From Body image (“This suitcase that carries us around “) to the place of art ( “the manner in which you live your life is the highest and most unimpeachable form of art that exists.” Says Marie Losier), the film raises very important questions. For Genesis, life is an ongoing performance, even when doing house work ( Genesis dresses up with high heels, silk stockings and sexy underwear to pass the vacuum cleaner). “Ch ch ch changes.. .’’, constant changes to transform one’s body but really one soul is her motto.
The film, which won many awards, is a tribute to love, to art. It is a MUST see !!
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye // Trailer
Screenings at the Chelsea Cinemas
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Marie-Antoinette As Usual
I had a great time watching French movies at Rendez Vous with French Cinema this week-end, and hope to see more as the festival continues until March 11: The Untouchables (so funny!), the Gangsters (a good old-cop movie) and finally, if I may say, The Last Days of Marie-Antoinette.
“The story of the film is about these important moments in time, in our lives, when History changes all perspectives, and when our awareness of the importance of the moment does not follow” (“Le monde change et notre conscience ne suit pas”), said Benoit Jacquot (“Midnight in Paris”). Certainly July 14, 1789 was such a moment in the History of France when the people stormed the Bastille and the very idea of absolute monarchy was beheaded.
A pamphlet circulated in the corridors of Versailles, clustered by the courtesans, stating the 250 or so names of heads which should roll. The King and the Queen being number 1 and number 2. How Marie-Antoinette is living through these last 3 days and nights? According to Benoit Jacquot’s interpretation of Chantal Thomas’s book (“Farewell, my Queen: a novel”), her main concern was the sensuous Princesse de Polignac, and the appeal of her senses …I will leave that to him.
For me (yes I am biased), the real star of the movie is Versailles and the beautiful and sensitive depiction of life at court, Versailles as a place of great political significance: the Grille du Roi, the Grande galerie, the Trianon, the gardens… all these places have their own role on the royal checkerboard and for that matter on the checkerboard of History! Not to be missed. www.rendezvouswithFrenchcinema.com
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Cocorico!
SSSank you! The Artist won The Best Movie…. A French evening in Hollywood …. My best moments:
Meryl Streep
Natalie Portman
Christopher Plummer
What a wonderful world
and of course Jean Dujardin ” Putain, génial!”
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French Mothers… The Best!
Pamela Druckerman is bringing back memories….
I had my children in America, and yes! I thought the American way was quite different from the French way. The Lamaze classes attended by studious couples were a shocking introduction. Did I really want an epidural? I needed to find one of very few obstetrician ready to do it… At the hospital – for 48 hours!- the baby was wrapped up in cloth like baby Jesus in his cradle… and of course I was told that 6 months was the minimum time for breast-feeding, and at the office pumping milk was a given ! Culture shock!
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Delhomme on fashion and art
I have already wrote about Jean Philippe Delhomme’s caricatures and illustrations in this blog . I am a fan! In “Dressed for Art”, a show at the French Institute Alliance Francaise in New York, the French satirist portrays the world of Art and Fashion and its excesses with so much humour. I love a rainy Sunday at the Museum : they all wear rubber boots !
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