 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
97.125.114.209
of Ozu is strained through a French intellect.
Not to even imply Pagnol isn't one of film's most intelligent, original, and startling talents: he is that, and very much more. There is a quality in artists which is all but impossible to describe: humanity. The greatest artists have embodied it in their work--- the ability to make one proud of being human in spite of all our cruelties, barbarisms, and faults.
The son of a wharf-side bar owner grows up with and falls for a girl whose family runs the next-door seafood business. However, since his earliest days, he also has been smitten with the life of sailors, captains, and with a deep love of the adventure which travel portends. This interior struggle is told as much with image as with dialogue. Raimu, as his father, is one of five brilliant actors who illuminate what could have been a trite melodrama but, through their combined artistry, becomes one of the most profound examinations of the human spirit.
I have Parts II and III sitting on the desk. I am too overwhelmed to see another today, it is that astonishing and satisfying.
Some of you may know Pagnol as the author of the work upon which Manon of the Spring and Jean de Flourette are based.
Follow Ups:
Marcel greatest with this set of films was- La femme du Boulanger.
Patrick sent me that set some time ago, together with a case of Grey Poupon... I don't recall being THIS overwhelmed, although I remember liking it. Might revisit it.I liked the Poupon, though!
Edits: 09/15/09
the never-surpassed group of actors at their very best----- I really don't know why this film isn't more highly touted. I suppose part of it is it's quiet and reflective pace, Ozu-like as I said. I omitted one very important point: the magnificent humor, the many comic scenes featuring Raimu and Charpin are hilarious. Perfect timing. Raimu is a French national treasure and he never had a better role. The lovers, played by Demaszis and Fresnay (Alec Guinesses' favorite actor) are the stuff of Romeo and Juliet.
There seems to be some confusion about who exactly directed the film with Alexander Korda sharing and sometimes appearing alone, as does Pagnol, in various sites credits. None dispute Pagnol wrote the screenplay or directed the two subsequent episodes, however.
Maybe if it caught you on a different day the impact would not have been this strong?
There is also that thing called "french flavor". Sometimes it is just the thing, at other times it can be too much. For instance, lately I heard a lot of French music from approximately the same period, and at some point I became over-saturated with its **light charm**.
was on the quayside with the characters, hoping the story never would end.
Maybe you has to be from the South to appreciate it.
Victor is from the cold....
liking that bleeding-heart tome, "Barry Lyndon!"
Is more " larmoyant " in people of the South, and not only that.
But this is Provence and I doubt you can get it fully too.
Can you so much Provencal that you can understand the whole in the original language?
several months of immersion to get my comprehension up to basic. Reading is another matter but I still have to consult a dictionary a lot. I wish my French were the equal of your English!
Patrick has a point... in any work there are usually some cultural elements and flavor that will get lost on a foreign viewer. I think we just have to accept that. I can see them all the time in the Russian films, I am sure Patrick does in French ones, you probably do in Brazilian... Some works have less of them, some more, making them totally inappropriate for any foreign audience - I mentioned some such works before. I doubt this film is such a work, but still, I think in general we are lucky if we get 80% of the true meaning and flavor of any foreign film.
You maybe optimistic about the 80%.
It is a matter of degree from film to film.
humanity: the greatest works transcend time, culture, language. Can a non-German appreciate Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto? A non-Greek the Acropolis? Sure, those works may have some additional meaning to a native familiar with the cultural significance but those are still towering masterpieces of HUMAN achievement. Any person with a father, mother, son, daughter or who has loved will find Pagnol's film(s) to be classics.
But the way and the importance of it may vary.
Take Marius, how many of it will you loose, a lot I bet, when you see it. The main message will be heard by you, no doubt but so many shades because you donīt know the roots, the background, the mentality, the slang, the way it is outspoken.
And so on.
I love Russian films and I nīknow with certainty that I miss a lot of it, and the Russian culture of the 19th century is close to the French of that special time.
I can just feels it.
So both views are right.
You yourself just said:
"Sure, those works may have some additional meaning to a native familiar with the cultural significance"
This is what I am saying too. And some works just have so much of that, they can never be appreciated.
I always mention in that context two absolutely marvelous works of Russian literature that not just can't be understood by a foreigner, but even the young people in Russia today don't understand why we keep them in such high esteem.
So the separation from the meaning, from the original sensation, pain or humor, can be not just geographical, but also temporal. There is no way the modern person living in Greece experiences the same vibes looking at Acropolis as his ancient countryman once did.
sdf
Our generation grew up literally peeing into our pants while reading these works, they were universally loved and broadly quoted, dozens upon dozens of their expressions became proverbs. The two authors had incredible sense of humor, typically associated with the Jewish inhabitants of the city of Odessa.
But we were still exposed to the Soviet reality the books described, even though some of it was already lost and nearly forgotten. Our kids, however, by and large, have no sense of that atmosphere, so they mostly "don't get it".
nt
Perhaps I should take an English translation of Odessa Stories to see that first hand, but seriously, I can't. His other works - perhaps. But not that one.
Well I suppose it gives an overview of the real thing.
BUT the translation was excellent as fare I could tell, of course!
regionalist or nationalist "insider" material which render significant (20%) of the work unintelligible to "foreigners."
A good artist supplies context. I don't have to know much at all about Jewish culture to get the jokes of, "The Owl and the Pussycat" which is rife with ethnic humor.
There is very little new under the sun, Vic. For instance, when I supplied Russian ships, I often drank to stupidity with the Captain and other officers (it seemed a necessity for good business) and their stories, though poorly translated, always made sense. In fact, Russian anti-government humor and that of Brazil surprisingly were the same.
I would submit to you that perhaps 90% of classical art can't be truly appreciated without knowing the mythology behind it, religious texts, historical events, etc.
So yes, SOME art will transcend the cultural barriers... images of Mother, depictions of female and male beauty, landscapes... but even there one must be very aware of the period and school, otherwise the "crude" 20th century images will make no sense next to the classical paintings or sculptures.
One and the same.
I am sure that he too, will agree.
Di you saw that trilogy in Englese? I mean with english spoken words or with under-titles?
I can imagine NOT that films with people speaking in the language of Shakespeare!
All the charm is of course in the original voices and the typically feelings of the South of France.
Have you read Jean Giono?
films are in the original French.
Must one speak French to appreciate the decollete of Bardot? :-)
No. But the belly of Raimu, yes.
fsd
Post a Followup:
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
